Institute of Australian Geographers

Indigenous Issues Study Group

About the Indigenous Issues Study Group

Welcome to the Indigenous Issues Study Group webpage. The Indigenous Issues Study Group was established in 1998 in Canberra, to study Indigenous issues with a view to harnessing geographical research and teaching to meet the needs of Indigenous people, and to facilitate a better engagement between Indigenous people and geography. The objectives, as stated by the foundation members of the Indigenous Issues Study Group, are:
(a) to enhance the visibility and accessibility of the important work being done by geographers on a range of Indigenous issues, particularly, but not only, native title, Indigenous rights and resource management, within the discipline;
(b) to enhance the visibility and credibility of geography in research in Indigenous issues;
(c) to provide a foundation for improving employment prospects for geography graduates in a range of areas with Indigenous organisations; and
(d) to encourage and facilitate networking and communication between members of the IAG engaged in work in these fields with colleagues in similar organisations overseas, including the NZGS, CAG, and AAG.

Since the inaugural meeting of the Study Group, the range of interests of members has broadened, and the emphases of the Group have evolved. While members are still strongly involved in research around native title, Indigenous rights and resource management, our research interests also encompass Indigenous knowledge and methodologies; postcolonialism; mobility, intercultural issues, reconciliation and coexistence; research ethics; governance and a wide variety of other areas and issues, often in collaboration with cross-disciplinary partners. Study Group members are committed to working towards encouraging greater participation in Geography by Indigenous people, with a view to supporting Indigenous people to assert their own voices within the discipline, and to scope the research agenda. For further information about proposed Study Group directions and activities over the next two years, please follow the link to the Indigenous Issues Study Group Plan, below.

Would you like to join the Indigenous Issues Study Group? If you would like to do so, or if you are interested in hearing more about Study Group activities, please e-mail the Convener.

Convenor:

Dr Judith Burns
Adjunct Lecturer,
Geography and Planning School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences
University of New England
Armidale NSW 2351 AUSTRALIA

Mobile: 0409 300 572
Facsimile: +61 2 6772 0864
E-mail: jburns2@une.edu.au

Reports

You can download the following reports of the Indigenous Issues Study Group:

Report for 2006-2007
Report for 2007-2008
Report for 2008-2009

Directory of expertise

Click here to see the Indigenous Issues Study Group’s Directory of Expertise.