• Charles Sturt organises sixth First Nations Research Summit
• The summit aims to provide the University’s Research Strategy with First Nations input and practices
• The First Nations Summit will be held at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga from Thursday 9 to Friday 10 November

Charles Sturt University is building on its Research Strategy with meaningful engagement with First Nations Elders and communities to create culturally safe research.

The First Nations Research Summit, titled ‘Placing Research: Working with Country’, is being held at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga from Thursday 9 to Friday 10 November.

Senior Lecturer Dr Holly Randell-Moon and Lecturer Dr Nicholas Ruddell, both with the Charles Sturt School of Indigenous Australian Studies in Dubbo and Bathurst, respectively, are co-convenors of the event.

The first summit was held in 2015 and is part of Charles Sturt’s overall strategy to include First Nations as a core part of the University’s narrative and regional strength.

“First Nations Research Summits have been convened to foster professional development for Charles Sturt University researchers to engage in culturally safe research with First Nations,” Dr Randell-Moon said.

“By working in partnership with First Nations communities to the benefit of those and other communities, research is conducted by both First Nations and non-Indigenous staff with an underlying respect towards different knowledge sources, ways of doing and ways of being.”

The summit provides an interactive forum to discuss how Charles Sturt can respond to the needs of its local communities and agencies through research partnerships.

This year’s summit will focus on the University’s strategic research areas of health, cybersecurity and agriculture.

The guest speakers will talk about embedding First Nations knowledge and science into agricultural research practices, the role and future of Indigenous health data for the profession and related data security concerns.

“Charles Sturt University’s Research Strategy includes Indigenous research as a core part of all research narratives and priorities,” she said.

“In order to build on its strengths, the Summit provides an opportunity for university researchers to learn from First Nations Elders, communities and academics on how to engage in culturally safe and culturally responsive research.”

Keynote speakers include senior Wiradyuri cultural authority Aunty Maria Williams, Professor Hugh Campbell from the University of Otago to talk about his family history and relationship to farming and colonisation in Aotearoa, New Zealand and representatives from Terri Janke and Co to talk about Indigenous cultural and intellectual property.

Professor Campbell is also the first PhD graduate from Charles Sturt University.

The summit will also feature interactive workshops on working with Country and First Nations data as well as a visioning exercise on what the future of regions will look like with enhanced First Nations governance.