Research Students

Chris Haynes

Thesis title: Kakadu National Park: joint management or compromise?

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Tess Lea and Prof David Bowman

Project précis: In this project I look at the ways in which joint management (the sharing management between the traditional Aboriginal Owners and the state) of Kakadu has evolved since its declaration as a national park in 1979. I use the tools of history and anthropology to examine the ways in which participants worked together for more than a quarter of a century to produce a national park that is unique not only physically but also culturally. I also look at the production and reproduction of the park’s workplace culture and analyse its reflexive effect on the participants, chiefly the white rangers and managers and the Aboriginal staff and residents.

Contact: cdhaynes@bigpond.net.au

Jamie Seaton

Thesis Title: The influence of population mobility on knowledge dynamics

Supervisor: Dr Martin Young

Project précis: This PhD focuses on how population migration impacts the transition and retention of knowledge in the Northern Territory. With so many people coming and going, there are bound to be a range of consequences for life and society in the Territory, whether they be social, cultural or economic.

Narratives commonly transmit and maintain knowledge within a society. This research will investigate how population mobility affects the creation of and maintenance of knowledge through narrative discourses. Using a qualitative approach, this research will gather narratives such as oral histories, newspaper content, repeat photograph, landscape readings and semi-structured interviews with narrative producers in local organisations associated with MIndil Beach.

Contact: jamie.seaton@students.cdu.edu.au

Carmen Cubillo

Thesis topic: Evaluation of let's start exploring together

Funding: ARC Linkage Grant

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Gary Robinson

Project précis: The PhD project is focused on evaluating a number of general hypotheses outlined in the evaluation strategy. In particular, the evaluation of the improvement of cognitive, social and emotional competencies in referred children at follow-up and; improved negotiation and transition from preschool to school shown in school attendance and social competency. There is scope within the PhD to make a major contribution to the development of measures to assess the children’s cognitive, social and emotional competencies in both indigenous and non-indigenous children. Options include direct observation methods, in conjunction with teacher/parent-teacher reports. The project will focus on measuring changes in children’s social competencies, peer interaction and parent-child interaction and the contribution of each of the observed outcomes in classroom behaviour.

Contact: carmen.cubillo@cdu.edu.au

Jane Walker

Thesis topic: The culture of conservation: valuing Aboriginal land management in and around Australia's protected areas

Supervisor: Prof Donna Craig

Project précis: This PhD research aims to look at what relationship exists between the values and involvement of Indigenous people and existing protected area governance approaches in achieving the goals of sustainability. Specifically the project will examine values and outcomes important to Indigenous people involved in protected area management; participatory processes for developing key performance indicators to measure protected area effectiveness; how indigenous identified values, outcomes and performance indicators relate to current national approaches; and if the inclusion of indigenous identified values, outcomes and performance indicators enhances governance and sustainability within protected areas. This research uses a case study approach, focusing specifically on the Lajamanu Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in the northern Tanami Desert, Northern Territory. This project involves Traditional Owners and other community members from both the Warlpiri and Gurindji language groups and the Central Land Council. Key methodologies used in the research include participant observation and interviews; biophysical data collection and community participation (assistant researcher/s, language workers etc).

Contact: jane.walker@cdu.edu.au

Karen Cieri

Thesis topic: Outcomes focused school resource allocation - The next phase of improving education outcomes in the Northern Territory

Supervisors: Assoc Prof Ibtisam Abu-DuHou

Project précis: Aims to provide advice on how to go about developing the staffing formula and supervise the development of the final resource allocation model. Satisfying student educational needs is about identifying and addressing those characteristics of students, schools, programs and school sites that generate genuine cost differentials. Needs-based formula funding is a funding where resources are matched to relative education needs so that like students in like schools are resourced the same and those that have further needs that incur greater costs receive relatively more resources to meet those needs. Contemporary per capita staff allocation to schools, based on the needs of students has been shown to improve student outcomes by enabling education authorities to align available resources to student needs and educational goals. The Northern Territory Government has made a commitment to develop a new staffing formula in a first step to eventually develop a full resource model to equitably distribute the education resources to schools.

Contact: karen.cieri@nt.gov.au

Marisa Paterson

Thesis topic: From card games to poker machines: An analysis of the impacts of gambling on Aboriginal communities in northern Australia

Supervisors: Dr Martin Young and Dr Ian Crundell

Project précis: The following project seeks to develop and expand the theoretical, methodological, structural and cultural discourses surrounding Aboriginal gambling. Aboriginal gambling, particularly in the Northern Territory, is an area of research that has been significantly overlooked in previous research, particularly since the introduction of poker machines into clubs and hotels in 1996. This project will look to understand the impacts, both positive and negative, that gambling has had on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The research will be conducted from an anthropological perspective, in which long term fieldwork will be conducted in a remote Aboriginal community and in the city of Darwin, Northern Territory. As a result of gathering both qualitative and quantitative data on both community card games and urban poker machine use, the research intends to develop new, culturally appropriate methods for measuring the impact of commercial gambling on Aboriginal communities.

Related SSPR project: gambling research

Contact: marisa.paterson@cdu.edu.au

Cecilia DeDonatis

Thesis topic: Role and practices of Aboriginal mental health workers and healers

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Gary Robinson, John Greatorex, Prof Franca Tamisari (Ca' Foscari University, Venice)

Project précis: The research aims develop original knowledge about the nature of healing practices and theories among Aboriginal people and to explore the contemporary role and relevance of Aboriginal healers against the background of development of community health services. The two main related issues are: 1) to explore the relationship between Aborigines and Mental Health Services from Aboriginal points of view, in order to shed light on any tensions in this relationship and to understand Aboriginal theories about them; 2) to explore the relevance of cultural knowledge with reference to Aboriginal Mental Health Workers and Aboriginal healers and their healing practices in the context of mental health care.

Contact: cecilia.dedonatis@libero.it

Tricia Nagel

Thesis topic: Relapse prevention in remote Indigenous mental health

Supervisors: Assoc Prof Gary Robinson and Assoc Prof Thomas Trauer

Project précis: The project is part of the broader AIMHI NT (Australian Integrated Mental Health Initiative) project in the NT. This part aims to trial a new relapse prevention treatment in five Top End remote communities to prevent recurring illness and to develop education about mental health stories addressing causes of sickness and compliance strategies to help people take treatments, in consultation with Aboriginal Mental Health Workers. The project also aims to: establish the usefulness of the new treatment through a randomised controlled trial; establish base line measures of client and carer and service provider knowledge and attitudes to mental health; establish base line level of psychosocial functioning and illness knowledge of clients; Implement the new treatment in remote communities with two groups of clients, carers and service providers - the second group to receive the new treatment six months later; Complete follow up measures six monthly for two years post baseline; and to report and feedback findings in a culturally appropriate manner.

Contact: trish.nagel@nt.gov.au