Indigenous businesses are being helped to develop markets for native bushfoods and ornamental plants thanks to research at the University of Queensland (UQ).
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) at UQ, Bronwyn Fredericks said the projects resulted from new Commonwealth funding dedicated to improving prospects for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including an amount for the UQ projects.
“UQ has been granted three of the nine new research grants announced under the Federal Government’s ARC Discovery Indigenous Scheme for 2021,” Professor Fredericks said.
He said Dale Chapman would lead a $1.5 million research project working with traditional owners to investigate new technologies and applications for native Australian bush tucker, novel foods and ornamental plants for urban gardens.
He said Chelsea Bond would lead a $1.7 million project to develop Indigenist Health Humanities as a new and innovative field of inquiry, building an intellectual collective capable of bridging the knowledge gap that hinders current efforts to close the gap in Indigenous health inequality.
Finally, Marnee Shay is to lead a project to provide an evidence base and framework for the new co-design approach being implemented across State and Commonwealth Indigenous policy domains.
A full list of Discovery Indigenous 2021 grant recipients and projects is available from the he ARC Discovery Indigenous Scheme on the Australian Research Council’s website.
