TRANSCRIPT
Science and Technology Australia (STA) say Indigenous knowledge needs to be higher on the federal government's priority list.
Science Minister Ed Husic has reviewed the National Science and Research priorities and released a draft of those priorities.
But the CEO of Science and Technology Australia, Misha Schubert, says they would like to see a different approach.
"What Science and Technology Australia would like to see, as a peak body for our sector, is a dual approach where we both interweave Indigenous knowledge through every other challenge, whether that's helping to get to our net zero future and stem the loss of biodiversity, whether it's solving the big health challenges that Australians will continue to face, but also to see that we enshrine Indigenous knowledges as their own standalone priority in recognition that this is important knowledge to Australia in its own right, not just in the advancement of other goals for the country as well."
The priority list released by the Science Minister identifies the research areas that are to be given the greatest importance within the next decade.
But the Deputy vice chancellor at the University of Tasmania, Professor Ian Anderson, agrees with STA and says Indigenous science needs to have its own space.
"Indigenous knowledge is a field in its own right and it needs to be explored and developed, analysed, collated in order to contribute to science's knowledges, it's not just a handmaiden of (secondary to) science."
So what are the Indigenous sciences they refer to?
President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education consortium, Sadie Heckenberg, says Indigenous sciences have been practised and researched for a very long time.
"When we're thinking about science, when we're thinking about how we go about this particular research in this research environment, we really need to acknowledge that when we're working with Indigenous scientists, when we're working with Indigenous peoples, we're seeing knowledge that has existed for such a very long time - we can't even think about how far down the track that knowledge has been communicated through oral history, from generation to generation - and that's so change-making in that environment. And as people who are working in Australia, we're always working on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land, and so we really need to be respectful of that really amazing process."
Professor Anderson talks about some of the applications of Indigenous knowledge to modern fields of scientific research.
"The major research opportunities (that are) in the field of Indigenous sciences is to actually document traditional knowledge. This knowledge, as I said, exists in Indigenous culture, it's out there in Indigenous communities, but it's not yet documented in ways that scientists can understand it or curate it, and also apply it to contemporary challenges. In fields like health, in fields like economic development, there are all these kind of challenges we actually find value in working with Indigenous peoples, bringing it into the domain of contemporary science in ways that that actually leads to new knowledge and application of knowledge."
President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education consortium, Professor Heckenberg, also says giving standalone priority to Indigenous science will eventually lead to more employment opportunities.
"So when we're thinking about the new different research areas that are being investigated, we're thinking about how can we collaborate more. How can we offer more opportunities to community and to those knowledge holders that, may not necessarily have the degree, but have so much more knowledge than so many other people in that experience. So, we're then thinking about, are there more scholarship opportunities, are there more opportunities for somebody to be able to take PHD research or Masters research, do we have more opportunities as community research is on project. Those are really really important things when we're thinking about that respectful behaviour and that respectful messaging that we need to have within everything that we do."
Science and Technology Australia's Ms Schubert says the knowledge hidden within the Indigenous sciences can also prove crucial in assisting with issues such as climate change.
"If we think about the next big challenges that Australia and the world are going to face: the accelerating pace of climate change, the big and complex challenges in human health that we're about to confront, preparing for the next pandemic, anticipating and preparing for that point at which antimicrobial resistance occurs and we no longer have any kind of defence against bacteria. All of these things, challenges facing Australia and humanity can be dramatically advanced by drawing more deeply on the Indigenous knowledge that is the long first chapter of Australia's contemporary knowledge and science base."
It remains to be seen if the Science Ministry will take into consideration the STA's appeals.
