Indigenous research

Ngarangun: ‘we learn, think and listen together’

We strive to be a leader in Indigenous research which has high impact in Australia and around the world. We do this by collaborating with communities and supporting our Indigenous researchers.

Our strategy

Ngarangun, our Indigenous Research Strategy (PDF, 1.3MB), underpins our Indigenous research as we work with Indigenous communities in Australia and around the world to identify the greatest challenges they face into the future.

Indigenous populations are growing rapidly and continue, on all indicators, to face complex challenges into the future.

It is only with strategic research of the highest quality that communities will be able to interrogate these challenges, influence the decision makers and funders and create for themselves the futures to which all aspire. View our Indigenous Research Strategy 2020 update (pdf, 1.5Mb).

Sydney Indigenous Research Hub

Sydney Indigenous Research Hub coordinates and supports all Indigenous research at the University, with mentoring and development for academics and Higher Degree Research students.

It is the place where you can find our research and researchers, learn new skills, develop your research networks, find a mentor and generally yarn about research that matters to Indigenous peoples everywhere.

The Hub supports the Sydney Indigenous Research Network that meets weekly to share research ideas, broaden our networks and develop our skills. The Network is open to all University of Sydney staff and Higher Degree Research Students interested in Indigenous research, no matter what you are researching.

Our people

Professor Jakelin Troy

The Sydney Indigenous Research Hub is led by Professor Jakelin Troy who is Ngarigu of the Snowy Mountains in South Eastern Australia. She is Director, Indigenous Research within the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Portfolio and an academic in the Department of Linguistics at Sydney.

Mujahid Torwali

Mujahid has been working as a research assistant with Professor Jakelin Troy since 2021. He is responsible for organising the weekly meetings of the Sydney Indigenous Research Network (SIRN). He holds multiple master’s degrees from Pakistan and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in linguistics at the University. Mujahid has over a decade of experience as a government schoolteacher and researcher in the Torwali belt of Swat, Pakistan.

Janette Thambyrajah

Janette is a doctoral student at the University. In the early 1980s, she worked in Alice Springs as a teacher and as an Education Officer for Aboriginal students. Later in her career, she taught Aboriginal students in an urban environment in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. These experiences alongside years of teaching literacy, directed her interest towards the study of bilingual Aboriginal children's books. She is passionate about the impact of language loss on Aboriginal wellbeing.

Adnan Bhatti

Adnan is the administrator for the Sydney Indigenous Research Hub.

Featured research

Aboriginal people sustainably produced food from native ecosystems for thousands of years, including the world’s oldest bread. Dr Angela Pattison and her team are working with Aboriginal people to bring this system to modern agroecosystems and foods.