The DKCRC is dedicated to improving conditions for all desert
Australians and it recognises that there have been past instances
of Aboriginal people’s knowledge and intellectual property
being misappropriated and exploited. The DKCRC Board also
recognises that the DKCRC’s objectives will only be achieved
by working in equitable partnership with Aboriginal people. Such
partnerships include knowledge sharing in research and potentially
the creation of new intellectual property.
The DKCRC acknowledges that Aboriginal communities and groups
have their own protocols and that these must be observed,
understood, respected and engaged with as an essential, ongoing
part of the research process.
It is a requirement of the DKCRC Centre Agreement that all
participants be aware of this Protocol as a working document. It
should be used together with other DKCRC resources:
Guides for researchers:
• Aboriginal
Research Engagement Protocol
• Free Prior
Informed Consent procedures
• Schedule of rates
of pay for Aboriginal workers in research
• Good manners guide
to working with Aboriginal people in research
• Guide to
Intellectual Property in the DKCRC
• DKCRC Guide to
Agreements
• DKCRC Centre
Agreement
Guides for Aboriginal communities and
organisations:
• Community guide
to this Protocol
• Plain language
briefing papers on Intellectual Property laws
Internal research management tools:
• IP register
• Ethics register
• Audit and Risk management
sub-committee of the Board
• Commercialisation
and Utilisation Plan
The Aboriginal Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protocol is a
resource to guide researchers toward best practice in ethics,
confidentiality, equitable benefit sharing and in managing research
information. It sets out the ways in which DKCRC research with
Aboriginal people should be conducted and how Aboriginal knowledge
and intellectual property will be managed throughout the research
process.
The DKCRC recognises that working in a cross-cultural context is
complex. In particular, where research projects involve Aboriginal
knowledge and intellectual property, special attention is needed to
ensure that these are handled appropriately.
This protocol also needs to be read
in conjunction with the Guide to Intellectual Property in the
DKCRC, as this outlines the ways in which Centre IP and Commercial
Project IP are managed.
