Our principles
These principles are the foundation of our professional conduct and inform our individual and collective practice at the University:
- Value Aboriginal Peoples and their knowledges for their positive impact and collective societal enrichment.
- Inclusion of Aboriginal knowledges and perspectives within the University.
- Engagement with Aboriginal knowledges at the source and with Aboriginal Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.
- Respectful enactment of Aboriginal protocols of engagement.
- Reciprocity that ensures an Aboriginal knowledges framework is part of a balanced exchange.
- Relationships that draw on Aboriginal knowledges of connectivity to Country and Peoples.
- Education to teach staff, students and the wider community about the complexity of Aboriginal knowledges, societies, languages, and cultures.
- Research that is ethical, culturally safe, and benefits and enhances the lives of Aboriginal Peoples.
- Shared responsibility within the University to support positive outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples.
Yurirka: Proppa Engagement with Aboriginal Peoples was developed to support the UniSA community to engage respectfully with Aboriginal Peoples. Yurirka – the Kaurna word for ‘attentive’ or ‘obedient’ – asks us to be mindful of our behaviours and attitudes and pay heed to protocols, to enable and build genuine relationships. The educational resource provides practical guidance on engagement, consultation and partnerships with Aboriginal Peoples and communities, with particular focus on two-way learning and research; and walks readers through Aboriginal world views, terminology and phrases, Aboriginal identity, engagement protocols, and intellectual property principles. The Stretch RAP 2023-2025 will see the expansion of Yurirka, through defined case studies that explore and provide more in-depth guidance on key topics, such as Welcomes and Acknowledgements of Country.
Aboriginal Research Strategy 2019-2025 is a cornerstone commitment of the RAP 2018-2021 that was designed to grow Aboriginal research respectfully and ethically. The plan outlines the University’s aspirations and principles for respectful engagement and presents a 38-point action plan that is characterised across four pillars: Institutional cultural competency; Research the ‘proper’ way from an Aboriginal perspective; Securing the future; and Aboriginal governance and engagement. As of the end of 2022, 36 of the total 38 commitments were complete, on track or in progress. For example, through the plan, the University has delivered the Visiting Research Fellowships Scheme, a pledge to host up to 500 research leaders between 2021-2025, including at least 15 First Nations Fellows per annum; and also released Yara Nguturla Tampirrinthi – which translates to ‘Recognising two-way knowledge together’ – a bespoke and compulsory online training module, to build research degree supervisors’ cultural competency.
Aboriginal Knowledges Centre (AKC) will provide a space and a relational opportunity across the University for the aspirations and actions embedded in our RAP to be advanced. The centre will be founded on respectful relationships and reciprocity in which two-way knowledge sharing, mutual respect, understanding, and life-long learning are common practice. A core focus of the centre will be on research and teaching, and through innovative themes of caring for Country (land, saltwater, freshwater, and desert); wellbeing and mental health; food systems and security; ageing, housing and education; ongoing preservation and curation of Aboriginal cultures, languages and knowledges; economic wellbeing; and justice. Aboriginal knowledge is based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation and has enabled a deep ‘knowing of Country’ and the inter-relationship between all life. Aboriginal knowledges are whole and interconnected, and collectively learned, the centre provides an opportunity to value Aboriginal knowledge systems and to ethically share with the UniSA community.