A qualitative and quantitative study of Indigenous content in curriculum. The Indigenous curriculum content in the Australian Curriculum, is tasked as the latest attempt to improve outcomes for Indigenous students. This project aims to investigate how teachers approach this cross-curriculum mandate, consider teachers’ attitudes regarding the teaching of Indigenous content, and identify the complex factors that act as barriers to the success of teaching this content. Employing an innovative desig ....A qualitative and quantitative study of Indigenous content in curriculum. The Indigenous curriculum content in the Australian Curriculum, is tasked as the latest attempt to improve outcomes for Indigenous students. This project aims to investigate how teachers approach this cross-curriculum mandate, consider teachers’ attitudes regarding the teaching of Indigenous content, and identify the complex factors that act as barriers to the success of teaching this content. Employing an innovative design that combines policy analysis, survey research and qualitative research to consider the structural, epistemic and curriculum factors impacting on the success of this policy mandate. This will illuminate the affordances and constraints of new ways of understanding the inclusion of Indigenous content into the curriculum.Read moreRead less
Developing Indigenous Australian early career researchers. This project aims to use institutional theory to examine the professional experiences of Indigenous Australian early career researchers. The project will identify key barriers and enablers, both individual and institutional, associated with advancing the research careers of Indigenous Australians who have recently completed their doctoral degree. Emphasising the importance of building research capacity amongst Indigenous scholars, this p ....Developing Indigenous Australian early career researchers. This project aims to use institutional theory to examine the professional experiences of Indigenous Australian early career researchers. The project will identify key barriers and enablers, both individual and institutional, associated with advancing the research careers of Indigenous Australians who have recently completed their doctoral degree. Emphasising the importance of building research capacity amongst Indigenous scholars, this project will establish a model of best practice to nurture and support the emerging careers of Indigenous early career researchers.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success. The soaring rates of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care requires an urgent response. This research aims to considerably advance the knowledge regarding child restoration by investigating the lived experiences and outcomes of Aboriginal parents whose children have been restored from care. The project intends to identify successful child restoration initiatives and produce an empirical roadmap for navigating serv ....Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success. The soaring rates of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care requires an urgent response. This research aims to considerably advance the knowledge regarding child restoration by investigating the lived experiences and outcomes of Aboriginal parents whose children have been restored from care. The project intends to identify successful child restoration initiatives and produce an empirical roadmap for navigating service systems with the goal of restoration. The project expects to make a substantial contribution to this largely neglected research area that will benefit birth parents and families, communities, practitioners, policy makers and academics. In doing so, it aspires to reduce the prevalence of Aboriginal children in care.Read moreRead less
Beyond recognition: postcolonial relationality across difference. This project aims to improve our understanding of claims for and against recognition by comparing relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in a settler-colonial context (Australia) and formerly colonised countries (Kenya and Papua New Guinea). Expected outcomes include new insights into the political effects and limits of ‘the politics of recognition’ in diverse contexts of post-colonialism. These outcomes are ex ....Beyond recognition: postcolonial relationality across difference. This project aims to improve our understanding of claims for and against recognition by comparing relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in a settler-colonial context (Australia) and formerly colonised countries (Kenya and Papua New Guinea). Expected outcomes include new insights into the political effects and limits of ‘the politics of recognition’ in diverse contexts of post-colonialism. These outcomes are expected to enhance the capacities of Indigenous peoples to negotiate and of Australian policy makers, development workers and corporations to engage effectively and ethically in such negotiations.Read moreRead less
Recognition after Uluru: what next for First Nations? This project aims to examine the extent to which Australia’s system of government appropriately serves and represents the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Such improvements offer the potential to enhance programs in areas such as health and education, including the Closing the Gap initiative. Drawing on public law principles as well as comparative and international legal material, the project will develop a model of ....Recognition after Uluru: what next for First Nations? This project aims to examine the extent to which Australia’s system of government appropriately serves and represents the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Such improvements offer the potential to enhance programs in areas such as health and education, including the Closing the Gap initiative. Drawing on public law principles as well as comparative and international legal material, the project will develop a model of governance against which the Australian system can be assessed. An audit will then be conducted of how that system operates in comparison to this model, before drawing conclusions and identifying potential reforms. The outcome of this project will be original scholarship of domestic and international significance that will inform academic and policy debate during and beyond the proposed referendum to recognise Indigenous peoples in the Constitution.Read moreRead less
Bringing Indigenous voices into judicial decision-making. This project aims to show how judgments can be written so as to be inclusive of Indigenous people's voices and histories. This project will extend methodologies created by international scholars for correcting the absence of women’s voices, and produce the missing Indigenous judgment in twenty decisions of Australian superior courts. The gulf between judge-made law and the lived experience of Indigenous litigants will also be explored thr ....Bringing Indigenous voices into judicial decision-making. This project aims to show how judgments can be written so as to be inclusive of Indigenous people's voices and histories. This project will extend methodologies created by international scholars for correcting the absence of women’s voices, and produce the missing Indigenous judgment in twenty decisions of Australian superior courts. The gulf between judge-made law and the lived experience of Indigenous litigants will also be explored through an in-depth examination of four test case exemplars. This project’s benefits include building a new relationship between Australian judges and Indigenous people and contributing to Australia's jurisprudence on Indigenous people and the law.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Lifecourse Research, Data Governance and Capacity Building . This project aims to contribute to rectifying 3 significant gaps in Indigenous research in relation to data; a lack of Indigenous lifecourse research to inform policy development; a lack of Indigenous governance of data; and a broader lack of Indigenous statistical literacy and capability. This project expects to address these gaps: by initiating an Indigenous lifecourse research agenda, using existing datasets; by being th ....Indigenous Lifecourse Research, Data Governance and Capacity Building . This project aims to contribute to rectifying 3 significant gaps in Indigenous research in relation to data; a lack of Indigenous lifecourse research to inform policy development; a lack of Indigenous governance of data; and a broader lack of Indigenous statistical literacy and capability. This project expects to address these gaps: by initiating an Indigenous lifecourse research agenda, using existing datasets; by being the first project to model the application of Indigenous data governance to existing data resources; and by delivering a modularised Indigenous Statistics Course, the first of its kind in Australia, plus a set of statistical literacy workshops to Indigenous organisations to meet Indigenous determined data needs.
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Turning back the clock on brain cell aging. This proposal aims to determine the role of fundamental epigenetic mechanisms in the process of aging and whether modulation of the epi-genome underpins an improvement in cognitive function. It combines the fields of epigenetics, neurosciences and mathematics to delineate the dynamics of DNA methylation and histone modification marking on the transcriptome during normal, healthy aging. The outcomes will provide significant new knowledge of the variable ....Turning back the clock on brain cell aging. This proposal aims to determine the role of fundamental epigenetic mechanisms in the process of aging and whether modulation of the epi-genome underpins an improvement in cognitive function. It combines the fields of epigenetics, neurosciences and mathematics to delineate the dynamics of DNA methylation and histone modification marking on the transcriptome during normal, healthy aging. The outcomes will provide significant new knowledge of the variable cognitive decline that occurs in healthy aging and why some populations age less successfully than others do. Better understanding of the impact of environmental change on the biology of aging has potential community benefits.Read moreRead less
Governing Aboriginal self-determination in NSW: 1980-2025. This project aims to examine how Aboriginal affairs governance in NSW has operated in the era of self-determination since 1980 to today. Using an ethnographic approach to study political power through time, it can develop a new understanding of the real practice of self-determination as policy. It expects to investigate whether governance processes have enabled improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people in NSW. Today, as policymakers ....Governing Aboriginal self-determination in NSW: 1980-2025. This project aims to examine how Aboriginal affairs governance in NSW has operated in the era of self-determination since 1980 to today. Using an ethnographic approach to study political power through time, it can develop a new understanding of the real practice of self-determination as policy. It expects to investigate whether governance processes have enabled improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people in NSW. Today, as policymakers negotiate co-design and partnership in Aboriginal affairs, this project can create new knowledge on the potential of resetting relationships between government and Aboriginal people. This will provide a significant contribution to crucial debates on advancing Aboriginal self-determination today.Read moreRead less
Raising the Bar: Learning from the Life Stories of Indigenous Lawyers. It was not until the 1970s that individuals such as Mullanjeiwaka, Dr Pat O'Shane and Judge Bob Bellear became the first generation of Indigenous lawyers. Over six hundred Indigenous people have since followed in their footsteps. Today, Indigenous lawyers pursue test cases for the victims of stolen wages practices, represent native title claimants, and are leading the conversation on the proposed Indigenous Voice to the Par ....Raising the Bar: Learning from the Life Stories of Indigenous Lawyers. It was not until the 1970s that individuals such as Mullanjeiwaka, Dr Pat O'Shane and Judge Bob Bellear became the first generation of Indigenous lawyers. Over six hundred Indigenous people have since followed in their footsteps. Today, Indigenous lawyers pursue test cases for the victims of stolen wages practices, represent native title claimants, and are leading the conversation on the proposed Indigenous Voice to the Parliament. Despite such contributions, the stories of Indigenous lawyers have been overlooked by scholars. In an Australian first, the project will gather the life stories of Indigenous lawyers. It will generate new knowledge about their career motivations, and how they are changing law and the legal profession.Read moreRead less