Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Research

"One of the ways in which Indigenous peoples have been colonised is through the appropriation and misuse of Indigenous data and knowledges by colonial institutions and researchers. Many Indigenous peoples around the globe are taking control of their own data and knowledges through implementing Indigenous data sovereignty and governance initiatives. These initiatives ensure that the governance frameworks used to manage Indigenous knowledges and data are grounded in Indigenous cultural values and that Indigenous knowledges and data are used for the benefit of Indigenous peoples." Quote from University of Melbourne

"Data that pertains to Indigenous peoples is a complex legal and ethical terrain. Whether it is cultural, linguistic, medical, or otherwise, such data usually needs to be managed and shared with care and considerations of self-determination and the right of people to have a say about managing their cultural heritage in ways that are meaningful to them."  (Indigenous data - ARDC)

In Australia, the Indigenous Data Network (IDN), established in 2018, provides support and coordination of data governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The IDN aims to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to determine their own data priorities. There are two important projects currently underway, focusing on increasing the data capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations: Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities and the Community Data Project. 

Indigenous data collections

• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA)

  ATSIDA is a specialised, trusted research data management facility for Australian Indigenous research data. It is a thematic archive with datasets stored securely at the ANU's Computational Infrastructure (NCI). Data is available for further research, under appropriate protocols, so as to reduce the response burden on Australian Indigenous communities while enabling informed analysis and commentary in areas of national priority.

• Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC)

  Follows the development of around 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families across urban, regional and remote Australia. The study provides a data resource that can be drawn on by government, researchers, service providers, parents and communities. It is one of the largest longitudinal studies of Indigenous people worldwide. Access to researchers by application, with terms and conditions.

• Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) Data collections

  Data on a wide range of health and welfare topics, including expenditure, hospitals, disease, injury, mental health, ageing, homelessness, housing, disability, child protection and the health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Some restricted data is available to researchers by application, with terms and conditions.

• AIATSIS datasets - contains AUSTLANG dataset, with more datasets to be added.

• Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse Datasets - major sources of data in crime and justice research are administrative data and surveys.

• Closing the Gap - Annual Data Compilation Report - the Annual Data Compilation Report to inform reporting on progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. 

Useful resources

• AISTSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research - This Code applies to academic research carried out in and by universities and publicly funded research agencies. Its scope extends to human research, archival research and re-use of data.
• AIATSIS Pathways Thesauri - provides terminology on subjects, places, and languages. 
• Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) Indigenous data - a comprehensive site that provides links to many guidelines on access and use policy, ethical research guidelines and protocols (including NHMRC guidelines).
• Australian Government Indigenous Programs & Policy Locations (AGIL) dataset - authoritative source of Indigenous location names across Australia
• CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance, developed by the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA), acknowledges the crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination and describes four principles for dealing with Indigenous data.
• Indigenous Data Network - finding Indigenous data, Indigenous data governance and describing (metadata) Indigenous data.
• Indigenous Data Sovereignty Readiness Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit -  (Lowitja Institute) evaluates Indigenous Data Sovereignty (ID-SOV) principles and practices in action within research and academic organisations.
• General guide to finding and using Research Data produced by Griffith University Library.
• Indigenous status Standard (ABS).

Consider issues around preservation, storage, and sharing of data. Retention periods and security needs for research data must be co-designed with community collaborators. Some data might be restricted in access to people of specific genders.

The community may want research data to be repatriated at the end of a project, so researchers based in universities should look at methods for providing community members with their own copies.

Where local communities don’t have the facility to keep research data themselves, this may involve donating or depositing the data with an appropriate data archive that is accessible to them. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) take donations to their collection. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA) also accepts data deposits. If you work with language data, especially from Pacific cultures, then you can deposit your data with the Pacific And Regional Archive for DIgital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC). There are also some content and knowledge management systems that have been specifically designed for managing Indigenous knowledges, in case you need to develop your own digital archive to manage your research data. Mukurtu CMS and Keeping Culture KMS have both been developed specifically with Indigenous content and knowledge management in mind.

Locating statistics

• ABS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - Data available includes health, housing, education, language, culture, population size and social issues.

• Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet - Detailed information about the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

• A Statistical Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australia (2008) - Australian Human Rights Commission

• AIHW statistical profile of Indigenous Australians - population size and locations, languages, cultures (2023)