Research Division

Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Ethics

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If you are thinking about conducting a research project with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or communities, the design of your project must respect and take into account the values, and cultural protocols of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As such there are additional considerations for research projects that:

Involve or will be conducted in or with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
Uses data related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that is not otherwise publically available
Targets participants who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people/s
The recruitment population is likely to include a significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, i.e. health population studies, certain school populations

Download the infographic (PDF 46.0 KB) for an overview of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Project life cycle . The infographic includes information about each project stage, as well as links to further information.

More information

Guidelines for Adhering to the Six Values for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Research

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders (2018) provides researchers with guidance in the conception, design, and conduct of research. This document outlines six key values that demonstrates that ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities requires more than adherence to the legal requirements of guidelines. All research projects must incorporate these six values, and researchers should also be aware of any Western research norms or assumptions that may unintentionally lead to culturally insensitive research practices.

Ethical research is founded on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural value systems. Accordingly, unethical research behaviour can arise from the failure to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander value systems. Unethical research behaviour can also arise from the prioritising of the researchers’ own value system over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural value systems. Either practice reduces research validity and causes real life harm to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Guidance for the Six Values Table provides a description of the key aspects of each of the six values, accompanied by a set of positive research practice examples linked to the achievement of each value within research. Box 1 in the PDF includes problematic research practice that have been shown to increase the likelihood that a research project will not meet ethical guidelines.

Research projects vary in purpose, design, data source/type and analytical processes. The positive research practices linked to the descriptions of the six values of the NHMRC in the PDF below therefore are not going to be applicable to all research projects. The intent in guidance provided in the PDF is not to set hard rules, but to provide examples of high quality practices and processes.

The six values are

Spirit and Integrity
Reciprocity
Respect
Equity
Responsibility
Cultural Continuity

The figure below shows how these values combine to form a holistic approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander related research.

Diagram 1 from Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders (2018), pg 3.

Note: The terms Aboriginal, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Indigenous are used alternately. Aboriginal reflects that most Indigenous people in Tasmania are Tasmanian Aborigines. Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reflects the welcome presence of other Indigenous people at the University.