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Aboriginal Engagement

The development of the Aboriginal engagement framework by the Social Science Program is based on recommendations generated from Desert Knowledge CRC projects that focused on governance and leadership. All but one of these reports have been received by the Desert Knowledge CRC and are all in varying stages of review or in the publications process. The project reports that have been closely referred to in drafting this framework are:

Effective Research and development Collaboration: participatory and capacity building frameworks for involving Desert People (Project Leader Metta Young)
Desert Knowledge for Desert People: A scoping project on Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (Project Leader Sonia Smallacombe)
Population and Mobility in the Town Camps of Alice Springs (Project Leaders Tangentyere Council and Centre for Remote Health)
CLC Development of Protocols and Systems (Project Leader Central Land Council).

The final report from the ‘Visible Approaches to Governance’ (Project Leader Veronica Arbon) project will also inform the Social Science Program.

To date the Social Science Program has organised workshops in Collaborative Methodologies with Waltja, is developing an engagement protocol and has performed a valuable role in communicating principles and methodologies across the Desert Knowledge CRC's research program.

Aboriginal Researchers and Project Facilitators

As indicated in the Workshop section of the website we have held a number of successful research training workshops (Research Nintiringtjaku) in 2006 run by the Aboriginal organisation Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi. An outline of these workshops and statements of outcome appear in that section, along with some detail about Research Nintiringtjaku (RN).

The footprint of Waltja is wide across Central Australia, covering the following language groups: Warlpiri, Luritja, Western Arrernte, Eastern Arrernte, Pintupi, Kaytetye, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Pitjantjatjara in approximately 30 settlements. The profiles of 20 people who participated in the workshops and indicated their interest in participating in Desert Knowledge CRC research projects are contained on the intranet section of the Desert Knowledge CRC website (see Waltja Researchers). These potential researchers and project facilitators are drawn from across these language groups. We strongly encourage Desert Knowledge CRC researchers who are working in this region to engage with RN researchers in the settlements they are planning to work with.

At this stage the process for this engagement begins with contacting the Social Science Coordinator and/or Kate Lawrence (Waltja Training support) to discuss the research project before contacting the Research Nintiringtjaku researchers directly. Waltja has a contract with DEET NT for 2007–08 to provide training and assistance to RN researchers in access to and use of office equipment (phone, fax, computer, email, cameras). This will support RN workers in their negotiations and communication with Desert Knowledge CRC researchers. So the more that Waltja is kept informed the better they can support the RN workers.

The wage rates, including the range of levels and types of research engagement, for RN researchers can be found on the first page of the Social Science intanet. RN researchers will work alongside Desert Knowledge CRC researchers, not do their work for them. And if the project requires expertise that these RN researchers do not have or if they are unable to assist for any particular reason, they will be the appropriate people to suggest others.

At this stage the footprint of Research Nintiringtjaku researchers is limited to Central Australia. In the future we will be looking to developing similar research training workshops further with other Aboriginal registered training organisations (RTOs). Any suggestions will be welcome by the Social Science Coordinator.

Research policies and protocols

Aboriginal engagement protocol - February 2007 - Download

Aboriginal engagement protocol: context of use

The Aboriginal engagement protocol is designed to be user friendly and adaptive to any research project that seeks to undertake research in Aboriginal settlements or with Aboriginal people in a town context. It is a framework that can be altered as relevant to each research project. It is ultimately the ethical principles of research and the structure of the protocol, as it aims to facilitate negotiation in benefit sharing, that underline the value of the protocol. As a research tool it is designed to work alongside the requirements that each researcher has to their own university’s ethics committee. Hence, it is complimentary to this process and cannot replace it. However, researchers, including Desert Knowledge CRC students, may find that the use of this protocol will assist in developing a strong ethics application.

The Desert Knowledge CRC Board, with significant Aboriginal representation, has endorsed the use of the protocol. It is anticipated that all new research projects that are planning on working with Aboriginal people will have developed their own protocol within the structure of this one. Once a protocol is finalised (this may take two or more visits), copies are to be held within the Desert Knowledge CRC secretariat. The Social Science coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that each project has an up-to-date protocol and these can be sent to her electronically or by post. These protocols will be revisited annually over the life of the project, offering an opportunity for all researchers and relevant community members to discuss the progress of the research and if it is proceeding according to expectations.

The protocol is essentially an amalgam of elements of two reports that were sponsored by the Desert Knowledge CRC: the Central land Council’s (CLC) report The Development of protocols for conducting research and other activities in the Central Land Council region and the Centre for Appropriate Technology’s (CAT) project on the Effective Research and development Collaboration: participatory and capacity building frameworks for involving desert people .

Finally, as it is yet to be tested in the field, the Social Science coordinator is looking forward to feedback on the usefulness of this protocol from researchers, and will update it accordingly.

November 2006.

Schedule of rates for Aboriginal workers in research - February 2007 - Download

Schedule of rates for Aboriginal workers in research: context of use

As another standard setting resource, this schedule of rates aims to ensure that the range of skills that Aboriginal participants in research bring with them is recognised and paid accordingly. It is the responsibility of university researchers to cost the involvement of local Aboriginal researchers, facilitators, cultural knowledge experts, etc, at the beginning of the project.

The aim is not for these rates to be prohibitive, however. It is acknowledged that all good collaborative research evolves over the life of the project, so that some individuals may become more active and undertake training courses that may necessitate a different pay structure. Likewise, the university researcher may have to negotiate with the individual community researcher to ensure that they are not adversely affecting regular pensions/CDEP payments etc (see the taxation hobby forms available for download, also on this site). However, importantly this pay schedule offers a set of base rates that the Desert Knowledge CRC endorses.

A number of resources were referred to when developing up this pay scale. Discussions were held with Tangentyere Council and the Central Land Council (CLC), and pay scales were referred to from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and from the Batchelor Institute (BIITE). The Tangentyere research unit emphasised that their pay rates are based on salaries, rather than by the hour and that the research work they tend to undertake tends to be relatively long term. Much of the Desert Knowledge CRC research work, however, will be relatively short term and sporadic, thus necessitating a higher rate. The CLC gave guidance for rates on cultural expertise and this is reflected in the pay scale. The AIATSIS pay scale for research assistance was found to be inadequate and probably out of date. The BIITE pay rates and the scaling of expertise was, however, very helpful and some of their language is found within the attached document.