Academic research projects delivered in partnership with Indigenous communities.
Each year, we provide grant funding for academics with new research ideas to be tested, explored and developed with Indigenous community partners.
2025 Recipients
Weaving Indigenous knowledges into marine biology field research
We will engage with Wadawurrung people as part of a week-long field camp on their country. By creating a meaningful space for Indigenous Knowledges, we hope to address key goals presented in Advancing Melbourne 2030.
2024 Recipients
Accessing kun-borrk/manyardi: A pilot song library for Western Arnhem Land
This project will work with the Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre in Jabiru and Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre in Gunbalanya to consolidate recordings of kun-borrk/manyardi in pilot a mobile song library for online and offline access.
Documenting Martu traditional ecological knowledge and language
Although Martu Wangka is spoken by children as a first language, there is only a small and shrinking number of elders who still carry detailed ecological knowledge and language. This project addresses the urgent task of documenting this.
Building partnerships to embed Indigenous knowledges in business and economics education
Working with representatives from local Indigenous-led organisations, this project explores how to incorporate Indigenous businesses into undergraduate education and how Indigenous onto-epistemologies can inform teaching and learning on country.
2023 Recipients
Connections on Country: Working together to understand and protect Adnyamathanha rock art in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges
Associate Professor Mark Quigley, Rock Art Australia Research Fellow Dr Helen Green, and Dr Alissa Flatley (all School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) will partner with Adnyamathanha collaborator Kristian Coulthard and his colleagues to characterise the age of rock etchings in the central Flinders Ranges, and to assess their vulnerability to geomorphic and climatic risks.
Indigenous voices in the collection and sharing of ecological data
Led by Dr Allyson O’Brien (Faculty of Science), the project team will begin conversations with Indigenous communities in areas where marine fieldwork and research is undertaken. The team will work with the communities to ensure research is responsive to needs.
Aboriginal Rock Art: Connecting Country and Community
Associate Professor Martin Tomko, Dr Richard Gillespie, Dr Brian Armstrong, and Associate Professor Kourosh Khoshelham (all Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology) will work with Traditional Owners to identify a collection of rock art photographs held by the Engineering and Information Technology Cultural Collection. The photographs are an important archive as they document the conditions of the rock art sites.
Reviving Dhudhuroa Language for Language Teaching in Schools and Kindergartens
Dr William Forshaw (Faculty of Arts) will support Dhudhuroa language educators to access and use the archival linguistic resources with which the language is being taught. The project aims to support educators’ goals and enable further language revival and learning through this interdisciplinary collaboration.
