First Nations Data Sovereignty

Shelter WA were delighted to attend the initial First Nations Data Sovereignty Online Forum, presented by the WA Social Research Network and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation.

The online forum, attended by over 250 people, held in late 2022, had a packed line-up, with insightful presentations.

Guest Presentations

Attendees heard from Maggie Walter, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Tasmania, Skye Trudgett, CEO at Kowa, Dr Bep Uink, Senior Research Fellow at Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre, Murdoch University and Honorary Associate at Telethon Kids Institute, and Shakara Liddlelow-Hunt, Research Assistant, at Telethon Kids Institute, and Lindey Andrews, Specialist Manager of Research and Evaluation at Wungening Aboriginal Corporation.

“They are inherently human artefacts.”

Maggie Walter kicked the session off by defining “Indigenous Data” as any information or knowledge, in any format or medium, which is about, or may affect, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, collectively or individually. Maggie set the tone for the event by affirming that “data are not neutral statistics”.

“They are inherently human artefacts, and they overtly display the cultural, social and political power imbalance between those collecting and analysing those data, and those of us who are their data subjects,” she said.

Data Ownership

According to Maggie, most data currently collected about Indigenous people is “BADDR data” (blameworthy, aggregate, decontextualised, deficit and restricted). Instead, the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA) advocate for the use of FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) and CARE (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, ethics) data principles.

Skye Trudgett introduced Maiam Nayri Wingara, an Indigenous Data Sovereignty Collective for Australia, and built on Maggie’s introductions by defining the difference between data sovereignty and governance.

• “Indigenous Data Sovereignty” refers to the right of Indigenous people to exercise ownership over Indigenous data. Ownership of data can be expressed through the creation, collection, access, analysis, interpretation, management, dissemination and reuse of Indigenous Data.

• “Indigenous Data Governance” refers to the right of Indigenous peoples to autonomously decide what, how and why Indigenous data are collected, accessed and used. It ensures data on or about Indigenous peoples reflects their unique priorities, values, cultures, worldviews and diversity.

Having heard principles and definitions, participants were then shown theory in practice, with a case study led by Dr Bep Uink and Shakara Liddlelow-Hunt from Telethon Kids. Bep and Shakara spoke about Walkern Katatdjin (Rainbow Knowledge), a research project that aims to understand and promote the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people, and work with services to develop appropriate interventions.

Good Practice

This presentation demonstrated the various considerations in implementing good practise around Indigenous data. For example, before data collection for the project, it was decided that the data would be governed by interested representatives from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ communities. The project is guided by a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and Indigenous Governance Group, with the YAG acting as co-authors (not just reviewers) to papers produced.

Lindey Andrews closed the presentations by speaking about Wungening Aboriginal Corporation’s commitment to Indigenous data sovereignty and governance. The presentation included a summary of the groundwork Wungening has done over the past three years. This included the development of a community-led impact measurement framework, Partnership Statement of Respect and the Birdiya Maya Homelessness Research project, which is an Aboriginal-led research project providing a platform for the voices of Aboriginal people experiencing homelessness in Perth.

Through a Community Ownership Group, community Elders lead the direction of the research project, including consent, IP, analysis, interpretation and sharing of the data. Lindey also mentioned the Lowitja Institute’s Tools for Culturally Safe Evaluation and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Readiness assessment toolkit as being especially helpful tools to learn about implementing First Nations Data Sovereignty.

Institutional Barriers 

A question during the event focused on institutional barriers to Indigenous data sovereignty and governance, to which Bep raised her view the concept is not dealt with by the funder and in university contracts, and therefore university legal teams aren’t familiar with it. The limited time frame of funding was another important consideration and barrier discussed, as it raises the question of who owns data after projects finish.

This was an incredibly insightful event to attend and Shelter WA looks forward to future conversations on this topic.