The University of Queensland in Brisbane
Indigenous Rights (ICHDR#2 (PhD) Year 1)
This PhD research project, based at the University of Queensland, will explore how Indigenous peoples rights feature in archaeology, social performance and cultural heritage management (CHM) policy and practice in the resources sector, and what needs to change. The researcher will undertake in-depth research with one or more of the Training Centre’s industry Partner Organisations or other organisations to explore how Indigenous rights and interests are understood and enacted. You will analyse what factors influence engagement with the discourse of rights at a local level and how this translates to the mobilisation of rights within industry standards and policies, and in practice.
Australia endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2009. Up to this point, the Racial Discrimination Act (1975), the Native Title Act (1993), and state and federal cultural heritage legislation were the baseline legal frameworks driving compliance for industry in relation to Indigenous rights and interests, including those relating to cultural heritage.
UNDRIP considerably widens the responsibility of parties that have endorsed it and Australia continues to fall short. Of serious concern throughout Australia, and central to this PhD project, is the question of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as it relates to the decision-making rights and impacts on lands. This concept of FPIC is often conflated with the ‘social license to operate’ under the native title act (1993).
This research has the potential to enable the mining industry to improve their performance in cultural heritage protection, respect for Indigenous peoples’ rights and interests, and socially responsible mining.
The University of Queensland in Brisbane
Cultural Heritage’s Presence in Decision Making (ICHDR #4 (PhD) Year 1)
A core question this PhD research project will explore is how archaeological and cultural heritage knowledge influences capital investment decisions in the resources sector. Based at the University of Queensland you will undertake in-depth research with the Training Centre’s industry Partner Organisations, or other organisations, to explore how the organizational and institutional ecosystem within which CHM is practiced influences decisions. This will also include the organisational and political ecosystem of Indigenous organisations, and the constraints and challenges that they are operating within.
In many mining companies, archaeology and cultural heritage experts are often isolated from key decision-makers. For example, the destruction of the Juukan Gorge site revealed serious problems in how archaeological findings are handled and how Indigenous heritage is protected. Legal rules and company structures failed to prevent the loss of this culturally significant site.
Through your research, you will investigate how mining companies can better integrate cultural heritage knowledge into their core business and decision processes. This will help protect Indigenous cultural heritage and improve respect for Indigenous rights in the mining industry.
This project aims to change how companies operate, making cultural heritage management a central part of the resources sector, and creating a fairer working environment for all involved. The research has the potential to reform the organisational ecosystem within which CHM is practiced in the Australian resources sector and ensure that CHM is integral to the mining industries ‘core business’ and to establish a more equitable operating environment.
