This talk is the second of three on parachute science being organized by the ARC CoE Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) committee.

Abstract

For millenia, Traditional Owners have held inherent rights, interests in and knowledge of Australia’s  marine environment, but are yet to be considered equal partners in marine research.  Australia adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2009, obliging us to “consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples … in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”  However, there is a disconnect between this obligation and the statutory regulation of marine research. Nevertheless, there has been steady progress.  For example, 13% of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is now subject to formal statutory arrangements with Traditional Owners (Dale et al 2019), and vast areas of Torres Strait sea country now lie within a Native Title sea claim (NNTT 2019).
Besides improving the quality, value and impact of marine research outputs and outcomes, Indigenous marine science partnerships  also uphold Traditional Owners’ inherent rights, responsibilities, interests and knowledge of the marine environment.  The refreshed ‘AIMS Strategy2025’ recognises this with an ambitious target for Indigenous partnerships to take a central place within the AIMS research program.  This joint presentation will:

a) introduce the AIMS Indigenous Partnerships Plan and Policy, including the tiered engagement approach that underpins it and its implementation across the AIMS port-folio and beyond (Libby); and

b) describe some resulting example Indigenous partnership projects with Traditional Owners in the Kimberley and on the GBR (Bob).