Data is relevant to self-determination and self-governance. It’s important that Indigenous data ecosystems remain accountable to Indigenous Australians.
The Indigenous Data Network (IDN) was established to:
Representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, organisations and communities across Australia, this project reviewed and refined national and international frameworks of Indigenous Data Governance (IDG) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) to collectively strengthen the foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data governance principles, which are being translated and applied to Indigenous research data tools and infrastructure. The Indigenous Data Network (IDN) delivered an Indigenous research capability program that celebrates, supports and enhances the capabilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and researchers at the interface of research data science and Indigenous knowledge systems.
The Improving Indigenous Research Capability project was delivered through 3 streams of development activities:
Phase 2 of the Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities project will extend the foundations developed in Phase 1: Indigenous Data Catalogue, resources and extensions, and foundational Indigenous research data tools and infrastructure.
The Indigenous Data Network (IDN) and project partners will continue to build the Indigenous research capability program to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and researchers at the interface of research data science and Indigenous knowledge systems to have access to effective research data tools. The project will achieve this by working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data custodians, focusing on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities engage with, and what they aspire to, in the governance of their data.
Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities supports HASS and Indigenous research communities, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Phase 2 partners (2024 to 2028, doi.org/10.3565/pr3g-s109):
Phase 1 partners (2022 to 2024, doi.org/10.47486/HIR003):
Associate Professor Kristen Smith, Research Director, Indigenous Studies Unit and Indigenous Data Network, The University of Melbourne, said, “Our partnership with ARDC in the HASS and Indigenous RDC has facilitated the development of foundational Indigenous social and technical research data architecture and core national Indigenous data assets at a critical juncture in our nation’s history.
“The partnership has initiated the first steps of building a bridge between international best practice data science and data governance, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and worldviews by fostering a national collaborative network of partners, spanning universities, the GLAM sector, government, and the Aboriginal community-controlled sector, that have assembled to undertake this vital work.”
This project is supporting the creation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Data Commons.
Phase 2 of the project will be delivered by a foundation stream focusing on Indigenous Data Governance and Sovereignty, and 4 parallel sub-streams of activities. Collectively, these streams of activities lay the foundation to build national Indigenous research capabilities, framed by a set of agreed Indigenous Data Governance principles that can leverage existing data assets, linking them with new and existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data assets.
This project is also generating a detailed account of research data ecosystems, including how research data is distributed and used for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To date, the project has:
The wider Indigenous research data community has actively engaged with the project across multiple seminars, workshops, forums and intensive use cases with Indigenous communities, government agency partners and universities.
The Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities focus area published 2 reports capturing the outcomes of the Indigenous Data Governance and Sovereignty Roundtables. The reports explore how Indigenous-led frameworks and organisational capabilities are shaping culturally informed, self-determined data governance across Australia.
May 2025: The team is currently:
