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
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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The Aboriginal land estate in New South Wales. This project aims to investigate Aboriginal economic activity via the first extensive place-based ethnographic study of New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Land Council. It examines approaches to managing lands for economic development and community benefit, especially the leveraging of communal land holdings for economic advancement as the return of land to the NSW Aboriginal community will escalate from 2017. Yet the benefits of land-based entreprene ....The Aboriginal land estate in New South Wales. This project aims to investigate Aboriginal economic activity via the first extensive place-based ethnographic study of New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Land Council. It examines approaches to managing lands for economic development and community benefit, especially the leveraging of communal land holdings for economic advancement as the return of land to the NSW Aboriginal community will escalate from 2017. Yet the benefits of land-based entrepreneurialism in NSW have never been reviewed. The project will provide significant benefits, including improved policy settings and insights into Aboriginal worlds.Read moreRead less
A place-based model for Aboriginal community-led solutions. This project aims to investigate the unique approaches used by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to enable community ownership of holistic health and social programs in complex community settings. Focusing on a close analysis of regional south eastern NSW, the project will produce a robust theorisation of a place-based model for Aboriginal community-led solutions to health and social issues. This project will include mechani ....A place-based model for Aboriginal community-led solutions. This project aims to investigate the unique approaches used by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to enable community ownership of holistic health and social programs in complex community settings. Focusing on a close analysis of regional south eastern NSW, the project will produce a robust theorisation of a place-based model for Aboriginal community-led solutions to health and social issues. This project will include mechanisms for the transfer and sharing of learnings to other locations, and the early engagement of key stakeholder groups to ensure the benefits from the project are accessible and widely disseminated. The project will also provide training and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.Read moreRead less
Building An Indigenist Health Humanities Collective. This proposal aims to develop Indigenist Health Humanities as a new and innovative field of inquiry, building an intellectual collective capable of bridging the knowledge gap that hinders current efforts to close the gap in Indigenous health inequality. Bringing together health and the humanities through the particularity of Indigenous scholarship, a deeper understanding of the human experience of health will be developed alongside a greater u ....Building An Indigenist Health Humanities Collective. This proposal aims to develop Indigenist Health Humanities as a new and innovative field of inquiry, building an intellectual collective capable of bridging the knowledge gap that hinders current efforts to close the gap in Indigenous health inequality. Bringing together health and the humanities through the particularity of Indigenous scholarship, a deeper understanding of the human experience of health will be developed alongside a greater understanding of the enablers to building a transdisciplinary collective of Indigenous health researchers. The potential benefits include a more sustainable, relational and ethical approach to advancing new knowledge, advancing research careers and advancing health outcomes for Indigenous people. Read moreRead less
Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs ....Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs across a wide and diverse range of interconnected localities, this project should advance the potential for Indigenous performance culture to contribute to language revitalisation, cultural identity, and the facilitation of cross-cultural diplomacy in national and international contexts.Read moreRead less
Fine Tuning: A Reconciliation of Indigenous and Western Musical Traditions. Focusing on central Australian song lines, the project strengthens our knowledge, understanding and application of the intricate tuning systems that underpin traditional Indigenous musical practices. Employing a unique methodology that combines Indigenous and contemporary Western musical performance practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, the project will show how the highly nuanced and sophisticated tunings at ....Fine Tuning: A Reconciliation of Indigenous and Western Musical Traditions. Focusing on central Australian song lines, the project strengthens our knowledge, understanding and application of the intricate tuning systems that underpin traditional Indigenous musical practices. Employing a unique methodology that combines Indigenous and contemporary Western musical performance practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, the project will show how the highly nuanced and sophisticated tunings at the heart of Indigenous music-making can be preserved when transposed to contemporary Western art music contexts. In so doing, the case is made for a more genuine, equitable dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous music-makers, to the mutual benefit of musicians, audiences, and society at large. 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