Facilitate control and data sovereignty

Indigenous art

Community ownership principle

Evaluation, and the knowledge created through evaluation, is owned by the community.

Application

□ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have the right to exercise control of the data ecosystem relating to them. This includes ownership, access, creation, development, stewardship, analysis, dissemination and infrastructure. 

□ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities retain the right to decide which sets of data require active governance and maintain the right to not participate in data processes.

□ Data must be contextual and disaggregated (available and accessible at individual, community and First Nations levels). 

□ Data structures must be designed to be accountable to Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people and communities. 

□ Data must respect individual and collective interests. 

Respect principle

Respect the custodianship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures, their ongoing and unbroken connection to their land and water and the right to protect, maintain, control and benefit from their Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP).

Application

□ Accept the community’s practices and protocols.

□ Honour the rights of communities to control the use and distribution of their ICIP.

Interpretation of culture principle

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the right to determine and approve the interpretation of their culture as the primary guardians and interpreters of their cultural heritage.

Application

□ Spend time developing an understanding of the community before engaging.

□ Build trust and relationship to ensure participants feel safe.

□ Be honest and transparent about all aspects of the evaluation, including management and access to data post evaluation

Integrity and authenticity of culture and knowledge principle

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the right to maintain the integrity of their ICIP.

Application

□ Reach agreement with communities on how data will be stored, managed and disposed of. Ensure that communities have ongoing access to the data during and post evaluation.

Secrecy and confidentiality principle

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the right to keep secret their sacred and ritual knowledge in accordance with their customary laws.

Application

□ Privacy and confidentiality concerning aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ personal and cultural affairs must be respected.

□ Ask questions about the management of cultural stories. There may be times where information has been shared with you, but not the relating protocol. Always check with community members before sharing material with commissioners or publicly.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge and thank Maria Stephens, an Arrabi/Binning woman who speaks the Iwaidja language. She generously provided her artwork for this page.