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Batchelor Institute has a long history of engagement in research projects of relevance to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities. These projects have and continue to involve diverse partnership arrangements with communities, government and non-government agencies, universities and research centres. This page provides an insight into the collaborative work we do.
Undertaken at the request of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training this project was a collaboration between Batchelor Institute and Charles Darwin University. The project aimed to explore how Indigenous perspectives of ‘success’ relate to definitions of success within policy and how these may have evolved over time. The key findings of this research and the recommendations made in the final report point to ways in which Indigenous higher education policies could more accurately reflect the needs of Northern Territory Indigenous people, groups and communities.
The final report from this research project can be accessed here: http://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/602/ is also found at https://www.cdu.edu.au/sites/default/files/opvcil/northern-territory-indigenous-higher-education-policy-review_final.pdf
In 2011 Batchelor Institute was awarded Collaborative Research Network (CRN) funding from the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education to implement the Indigenous Research Collaboration (IRC) project, which aimed to increase the research capacity of Batchelor Institute with the support of research partners: Monash University; Charles Darwin University and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The project saw the development of collaborative relationships; an increase in Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers; and research quantum.
As part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation the ‘Pathways to Employment’ project was a collaboration between Batchelor Institute and NintiOne. The research aimed to explore how different ways of being, knowing and valuing that existed between policy makers, program developers/implementers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ in remote communities impacted pathways to economic engagement .The research challenged assumptions underpinning current pathway to employment policy, programs and practices operating in very remote Australia. The project found that barriers to increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander economic engagement and participation in very remote Australia included policy and program models based on notions of deficit and shaped by traditional human capital frameworks.
A collection of 30 peer reviewed papers stemming from the event can be found in the publication: Finding Common Ground: Narratives, Provocations and Reflections from the 40 Year Celebration of Batchelor Institute https://www.batchelor.edu.au/biite/wp-content/uploads/Common-Ground-ebook.pdf
The project identified strengths of existing Family Support Package elements and pointed to opportunities for enhancing their effectiveness in protecting Aboriginal children and families from abuse and violence. http://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/303/
This research was funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Families and Housing, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), through the National Homelessness Research Agenda. The research found that for Indigenous women in this study, transactional sex was an historical and established mechanism for basic survival during periods without shelter in Darwin. The study concluded that transactional sex was a product of homelessness and expression of the continuum of colonisation with its social, cultural, political and economic challenges for Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The full research report can be accessed here http://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/297/1/Homelessness_Report_v2_1_Print.pdf
An Australian Research Council (ARC) funded Linkage research project, ‘Building the future for Indigenous students’, was a collaboration between Batchelor Institute, Charles Sturt University, Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training. The project explored hopes and dreams for the future of remote and very remote students and particularly what motivated them at school, and how they studied. The findings provided critical hard data on the Indigenous students’ future visions and aspirations, motivation, and approaches to study . Another significant contribution to come from this research was the publication of Indigenous Kids in Schooling: An Introductory overview and brief history of Aboriginal Education in the Northern Territory.
http://www.batchelorpress.com/docs/open/iks/indigenous-kids-schooling-nt.pdf
Batchelor Institute was invited by BHP Billiton and the Nyiyaparli People to develop and administer a baseline socio-economic analysis (SEA) survey for the Nyiyaparli People of the Pilbara region. This included: gathering baseline data; identifying barriers to economic participation; and identifying the outcomes that the Nyiyaparli People want to achieve through their Agreement with BHP Billiton. Link to repository: http://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/319/
The project explored an Indigenous community engagement process that was undertaken by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Link to Repository: http://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/318/