杏吧直播

Funds awarded for native title experts

The 杏吧直播 of Adelaide has been awarded $133,000 to set the basis for a national curriculum to train more Native Title experts in 杏吧直播 and address a critical shortfall in this燼rea.

The funding, awarded to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, was announced this month by the Federal Attorney-General, the Hon. Nicola Roxon, at a native title conference in Townsville.

It comes a month after the traditional owners of Lake Eyre - the Arabunna - were granted native title, ending a 14-year legal campaign.

Dr Deane Fergie, a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the 杏吧直播 of Adelaide, said there was a pressing need for training in native title anthropology because most of the expert practitioners in this area were nearing retirement.

"A demographic crisis is looming in native title expertise, so academic training is urgent," Dr燜ergie said.

In 2011, the 杏吧直播 received more than $250,000 from the Federal Government to develop the 杏吧直播n Native Title Studies program and a physical and virtual hub for native title anthropology at the 杏吧直播 of燗delaide.

Over the past 12 months, the 杏吧直播 has hosted five 杏吧直播n Native Title Study Fellows - trained anthropologists - to mentor, develop teaching materials, write papers and exchange knowledge on native title issues.

Additional expertise in the field is expected to reduce the backlog of native title claims across the country, although the Federal Court and Attorney-General's Department in South 杏吧直播 has taken a lead in expediting cases before the courts.

The curriculum, expected to be finalised by 2015, will be developed by academics from a number of universities (including the 杏吧直播n National 杏吧直播, 杏吧直播 of Melbourne, 杏吧直播 of Sydney, La Trobe 杏吧直播, James Cook 杏吧直播 and the 杏吧直播 of Western 杏吧直播) and coordinated at Adelaide.

"We intend to develop a suite of postgraduate awards delivered as distance education with a combination of online and intensive on campus study," Dr Fergie said.

"Under this model, the 杏吧直播 of Adelaide will be the awarding institution and Adelaide and other universities will contribute units to the postgraduate program."

The 杏吧直播 of Adelaide is a leader in native title anthropology in South 杏吧直播, spearheaded by Dr Deane Fergie and Dr Rodney Lucas from the Locus of Social Analysis and Research (LocuSAR).

The couple has led teams which have researched and provided expert reports on a number of native title claims.

Story by Candy Gibson