Philanthropy and Indigenous people: Enhancing Indigenous education outcomes. Indigenous Australians suffer a disparity in educational outcomes that frays the social fabric of the nation. While there is abundant evidence that education is empowering and the social and economic benefits of improving educational outcomes are significant, past and current efforts to increase educational attainment and enhance outcomes among the nation's most disadvantaged citizens have not achieved the gains most ex ....Philanthropy and Indigenous people: Enhancing Indigenous education outcomes. Indigenous Australians suffer a disparity in educational outcomes that frays the social fabric of the nation. While there is abundant evidence that education is empowering and the social and economic benefits of improving educational outcomes are significant, past and current efforts to increase educational attainment and enhance outcomes among the nation's most disadvantaged citizens have not achieved the gains most expected. A promising new pathway exists in creative and innovative approaches to the support of Indigenous education by a small number of philanthropic bodies. This research will examine philanthropy in this area and will provide important practical insights of value to the nation.Read moreRead less
Where's the evidence? Understanding the use of evidence in Indigenous policy. The project will strengthen the social and economic fabric of Indigenous communities and Australia as a whole by helping to improve the production and use of robust evidence and the engagement of Indigenous people themselves in Indigenous policy development. The dialogue approach has been used in many conflict situations. Here it will help the development of innovative approaches to resolving tensions between policyma ....Where's the evidence? Understanding the use of evidence in Indigenous policy. The project will strengthen the social and economic fabric of Indigenous communities and Australia as a whole by helping to improve the production and use of robust evidence and the engagement of Indigenous people themselves in Indigenous policy development. The dialogue approach has been used in many conflict situations. Here it will help the development of innovative approaches to resolving tensions between policymakers, researchers and Indigenous people, and also Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The project will significantly build the capacity of Indigenous researchers in this area. It will help Australian and international policymakers make more effective use of research in other areas of social policy. Read moreRead less
Financial dispossession: a history of Indigenous peoples and stolen wages in Victoria. This project will investigate the history and impact of past Victorian government policies on stolen wages on Victorian Indigenous communities. The project will further the understanding of these stolen wages policies and assist in the campaigns for justice for those Indigenous people affected by these policies.
Custom-based land and resource management and the educational and social re-engagement of Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory. Social and educational disengagement has reached crisis levels among Indigenous youth in many remote communities; young people are leaving school and training programs because they perceive them to be irrelevant or meaningless. The social cost of this phenomenon is high. This project aims to identify ways to combine Indigenous customary and western science-based l ....Custom-based land and resource management and the educational and social re-engagement of Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory. Social and educational disengagement has reached crisis levels among Indigenous youth in many remote communities; young people are leaving school and training programs because they perceive them to be irrelevant or meaningless. The social cost of this phenomenon is high. This project aims to identify ways to combine Indigenous customary and western science-based land and resource management knowledge and practice with locally and culturally meaningful education and training programs to re-engage young people with learning and their wider communities. The project will produce a series of scholarly outcomes in addition to a coordinated model for strategic policy and program development.
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Walking my path: NSW Indigenous LGBTIQ+ peoples' experiences & aspirations. There is little known about the experiences, needs and aspirations of Indigenous gender and/or sexuality diverse peoples in New South Wales. This means that government, corporate and community sectors lack information on how to secure their social, economic and cultural inclusion. In collaboration with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations, the project will create new knowledge about the key events and expe ....Walking my path: NSW Indigenous LGBTIQ+ peoples' experiences & aspirations. There is little known about the experiences, needs and aspirations of Indigenous gender and/or sexuality diverse peoples in New South Wales. This means that government, corporate and community sectors lack information on how to secure their social, economic and cultural inclusion. In collaboration with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations, the project will create new knowledge about the key events and experiences shaping Indigenous gender/sexuality diverse peoples' immediate needs and longer-term aspirations in NSW. This will inform the development of culturally and gender/sexuality appropriate service provision and promote social cohesion and community (re)connections through engagement with community, economy and culture. Read moreRead less
Integrating measures of Indigenous land management effectiveness. Land management is the fastest growing Indigenous employment sector in Australia yet methods for assessing its effectiveness are poorly developed. This project will work with Indigenous land managers and their major environmental service delivery partners to develop and agree on measures of land management effectiveness to meet multiple objectives.
Co-research supporting the development of Aboriginal plant knowledges. Successful commercial development of products manufactured from Australian plant extracts based on shared Aboriginal Knowledges and Western scientific evidence is limited. This research project partnering with an Aboriginal Corporation and a skincare company aims to understand the processes that would be needed for Aboriginal-led product development from a traditionally-used plant. This includes examining how plant materials ....Co-research supporting the development of Aboriginal plant knowledges. Successful commercial development of products manufactured from Australian plant extracts based on shared Aboriginal Knowledges and Western scientific evidence is limited. This research project partnering with an Aboriginal Corporation and a skincare company aims to understand the processes that would be needed for Aboriginal-led product development from a traditionally-used plant. This includes examining how plant materials could be sustainably managed and harvested on Aboriginal homelands, the quantities of plant materials needed for product development and the feasibility of a homelands business. The learnings from this project are expected to inform other First Nations groups seeking to develop their plant knowledges.Read moreRead less
From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art ....From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art site complexes. It will develop management regimes and formal certification for Indigenous rangers while building heritage capacity in these partner communities: enabling intergenerational, culturally appropriate knowledge transfer protocols are in place to ensure sustainable economic heritage futures.Read moreRead less
Re-integrating Central Australian community cultural collections. This project aims to apply current research on archiving and community access to find practical solutions to managing the large amounts of recorded cultural material of interest to the Central Land Council, the peak Indigenous representative body covering the southern half of the Northern Territory. The project aims to identify and integrate information in a common database, work with community members to create a prioritised list ....Re-integrating Central Australian community cultural collections. This project aims to apply current research on archiving and community access to find practical solutions to managing the large amounts of recorded cultural material of interest to the Central Land Council, the peak Indigenous representative body covering the southern half of the Northern Territory. The project aims to identify and integrate information in a common database, work with community members to create a prioritised list of any at-risk materials and apply locally meaningful categories for managing the archival materials relevant to their community, and deliver appropriate documentation of process, permissions and reports to support ongoing sustainability of the collections.Read moreRead less
Establishing the provenance of Torres Strait Islander remains: genetics, craniometrics and isotopes. The repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remains has been a focus of Commonwealth and State Governments for over two decades. It remains as a significant social and cultural issue for many Indigenous Australians. One of the main hurdles to repatriation is the fact that hundreds, and possibly thousands of human remains have very little contextual detail associated with them. A num ....Establishing the provenance of Torres Strait Islander remains: genetics, craniometrics and isotopes. The repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remains has been a focus of Commonwealth and State Governments for over two decades. It remains as a significant social and cultural issue for many Indigenous Australians. One of the main hurdles to repatriation is the fact that hundreds, and possibly thousands of human remains have very little contextual detail associated with them. A number of techniques have been developed in the field of biological anthropology to reconstruct the history of individual skeletal remains. This innovative project aims to use advances in the fields of ancient DNA, isotope analysis and craniometrics to resolve the provenance of 113 trophy skulls from the Torres Strait Islands.Read moreRead less