Assistant Director

Application Pack

Assistant Director, Indigenous Research Knowledge Exchange

EL1

Non-Ongoing Full-time

$100,147 to $109,855 pa

This is an Affirmative Measures opportunity open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander people only

Who we are
We are Australia’s only national institution focused exclusively on the diverse history,
cultures, and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia. We house the
world’s most important and extensive collection of cultural information and material and
we provide leadership, publish and promote greater understanding and appreciation of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We create opportunities for people the
world over to engage with and be transformed by the knowledge, the culture and the
story of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. We are Australia’s national institution for
leadership in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research.

What we do

We care for a priceless collection, including films, photographs, video and audio
recordings as well as the world’s largest collection of printed and other resource
materials for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies. We undertake and encourage
scholarly, ethical, community-based research in a variety of sectors, including health,
native title, languages and education. Our publishing house, Aboriginal Studies Press,
regularly publishes outstanding writing that promotes Australian Indigenous cultures.
Our activities affirm and raise awareness of the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories.

Ngurra: The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural
Precinct

The recently announced Ngurra Cultural Precinct will be nationally significant in speaking
to the central place that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold in Australia’s
story.

It will comprise two key elements:
A National Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Centre where Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Australia tells its own stories and celebrates the 65,000
- year history of this nation. It will include education, exhibition and gallery spaces
in a new fit-for purpose home for AIATSIS.

A National Resting Place to house and care for repatriated limited provenance
ancestral remains and any associated cultural material on their journey back to
Country.

What we are trying to achieve

Our functions are established under the_ Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres _
- Strait Islander Studies Act 1989_.

These functions are to:
provide access to a national collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

culture and heritage;
use that national collection to strengthen and promote knowledge and
understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage;
provide leadership in the fields of:

- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research; and
- activities relating to collections associated with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples; and use (including use for research) of that
national collection and other collections containing Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander culture and heritage;
***lead and promote collaborations and partnerships among the academic, research,
non-government, business and government sectors and Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples in support of the other functions of the Institute;
provide advice to the Commonwealth on the situation and status of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage.

We are an Australian Government statutory authority. The Minister responsible for
AIATSIS is the Hon Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians, and AIATSIS
sits within the portfolio of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

About the Research Policy and Ethics Team

The Research Policy and Ethics Team sits within the Research and Education Group.
The team is responsible for the Yumi Sabe, an Indigenous Knowledge Exchange Platform
that assists Indigenous communities, researchers and policy makers to access and use
data to inform and improve policies and programs. Yumi Sabe also demonstrates the
complexity and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples', research and
culture. The Research Policy and Ethics Team is also responsible for administering the
Indigenous Research Exchange Grants and supporting a Community of Practice of grant
recipients. In the ethics space, the team is responsible for leading and influencing
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research, ethics and protocols. This includes the
- AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research_ and the
AIATSIS Research Ethics Committee, which is responsible for reviewing ethics

About the Role

We are seeking a high performing and talented Assistant Director to provide strategic
direction and leadership in AIATSIS’s Research Policy and Ethics Team.

Key responsibilities include:

- undertake Indigenous research, inform Indigenous research policy development

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