Session 5: Developing research infrastructure partnerships with local and Indigenous communities

Tuesday, 3rd December 2.00PM AEST | Breakout Session

What are the best ways to develop partnerships with local and Indigenous communities that secure community buy-in, build capacity, and uphold Indigenous rights in data management?

By highlighting best practices in creating inclusive research infrastructures, we aim to demonstrate how these projects can deliver tangible social, cultural, health, environmental, and economic benefits for Indigenous and local communities. We will cover effective training approaches for academic and non-academic personnel to ensure staff are equipped to support and collaborate on these initiatives. Attendees will gain practical insights into fostering equitable and impactful research infrastructure.

Moderator

Dr Cassandra Sedran-Price is a Muruwari/Gangugari woman with a PhD in Marine Science from the University of Tasmania. Currently she is a Senior Research Manager at CSIRO. Her career spans diverse fields, including climate ecology, natural resource management, Indigenous health, and national data development. Cassandra’s current research centres on operationalising Indigenous data sovereignty and examining the climate-related impacts on health and well-being.

Panellist

Niklas Labba grew up as a traditional reindeer herder and has for many years, initiated partnerships between Sámi communities and the EU- INTERACT network. There, Sámi reindeer herders and researchers have collaborated to monitor and develop new knowledge about the impacts of climate change. He has represented the Sámi council, the Swedish and Norwegian Governments, the Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations bodies.

Panellist

Dr Daniel Wilson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao) lectures in Computer Science at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand, specialising in Māori data sovereignty, ethics, and equitable data practices. With a diverse academic background in philosophy and data science, Daniel contributes to research on decolonising data systems. He is a member of Te Mana Raraunga | The Māori Data Sovereignty Network and is also Co-Director of the Centre for Machine Learning for Social Good.

Panellist

Jennylyn Hamlett is the Community Liaison Officer for the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation. Jennylyn Hamlett is a proud Wajarri Yamaji Nyarlu (woman) from the Murchison region of Western Australia. Jennylyn has been working within the research infrastructure partnership space for over a decade, specifically with Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, established in partnership with Wajarri Yamaji in 2009. The observatory site is now host to the construction of a mega-science infrastructure project, the international SKA Observatory’s SKA-Low telescope, for which Jennylyn has been instrumental in the development and partnership. Jennylyn now acts as the formal Community Liaison Officer for the Wajarri People in connection to the observatory, ensuring Wajarri interests are included in decision making and opportunities. 

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters throughout Australia, and pay respect to the Elders past, present and emerging. We recognise the importance of connection to culture, land, kinship and community to the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander families. We acknowledge the cultural practices and traditions still carried out today and being passed down to future generations.