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.

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.

Prior Informed Consent form - February 2007 - Download