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About the scholarship

The purpose of this $15,000 scholarship is to support an Indigenous student to conduct Honours research that contributes to the theory and practice of Aboriginal self-determination policy. The student will have the opportunity undertake research with the support of experienced Indigenous scholars and allies, while also developing knowledge and workforce skills relevant to the public sector. This scholarship is part of an ARC Discovery Indigenous Grant () awarded to Professor Heidi Norman, which examines how Aboriginal Affairs governance has operated in the era of self-determination since 1980 to today.

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To be eligible, applicants must meet all the following criteria: 

• Be commencing or currently enrolled in o Any UNSW Honours degree program 
• Provide confirmation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage.Ìý
• Undertake Honours research that contributes to understandings of Aboriginal self-determination policy on a topic approved by the Chief Investigator of the ARC Discovery Indigenous Grant, ‘Governing Aboriginal Self-Determination in NSW’.

Guidelines for application 

• Students are strongly encouraged to contact Professor Heidi Norman and Dr Sam Dalgarno for guidance on this application and workshopping a research topic. Please send an Expression of Interest email to h.norman@unsw.edu.au and s.dalgarno@unsw.edu.au. Include your CV, cover letter and initial research topic ideas.Ìý
• A formal application for the scholarship must be completed through the ±«±·³§°ÂÌý.Ìý

Choosing your research topic

While the research team would consider any research topic broadly related to the themes of Aboriginal political history, the relationship between Aboriginal people and the state, Aboriginal self-determination, and Aboriginal rights, below are some examples of some research questions that you might consider and work with the research team to refine:

• What have First Nations’ people understood self-determination to mean? How has these understandings been expressed in relation to particular policy areas, for example education, housing, health, child protection, criminal justice, business, and cultural heritage?
• How have Australian governments, or actors outside of government, responded to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?
• Trace the history of terms such as ‘self-determination’, ‘partnership’, ‘co-production’ or ‘co-design’ and their usage in Aboriginal Affairs. How have understandings of these terms, and the ways they have been deployed, changed over time?
• Compare, through case study analysis, instances of co-design or partnership between government and an Aboriginal community in the period between 1980 and the present?
• Choose an individual (real or fictional, Aboriginal, or non-Aboriginal) and explore how they have either embodied, advanced or hindered aspirations for Indigenous self-determination.
• Focusing on a particular case study or studies, explore how Aboriginal political power has been portrayed in popular culture, the media, literature, and/or film.
• Investigate how commissions of inquiry (for example, the Victorian Yoorrook Justice Commission or the proposed Makarrata Commission) conceive, or have conceived, of self-determination.

Research topics drawn from these examples above could be addressed using a range of different methodological approaches, including, for example, interviews, surveys, archival research, legal research, and discourse analysis of media or other sources.