Recognition of Indigenous knowledge was a key talking point at the 3rd annual conference of the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (IHEAC), a meeting of Vice-Chancellors, Indigenous academics and government representatives held in Adelaide last week.
As part of the conference, universities supported IHEAC's call for Indigenous Knowledge Systems to be listed as a separate division within the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) research classification scheme - the Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) codes.
"Indigenous Knowledge Systems are a genuine field of research endeavour that cannot be captured separately under the current RFCD codes," Universities Australia Chief Executive Dr Glenn Withers said today.
"Creating a new division would help raise the profile of this research, and make Australia a world leader in recognising the value and potential benefits that derive from the knowledge accumulated by Indigenous peoples.
"Universities Australia is actively working with IHEAC to increase the involvement of Indigenous Australians in university research, both as enrolled research students and as academics in positions of research productivity and leadership," Dr Withers said.
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