Five-year longitudinal study of cannabis users in three remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

This article presents the results of a retrospective study that critically examines the development of a responsive parent–child program from conceptualisation to pilot implementation. The development of the Play to Connect program was a continuation of research translation work of the Let’s Start parenting program which was delivered in remote Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory, Australia from 2005–2016. The impetus for the Play to Connect program came from the community need for parenting support that could be delivered by local Aboriginal workers living in the community. The aim was to bring research and community together through the co-creation of contextually relevant knowledge directly useful for local Aboriginal facilitators. Embedded in a dynamic cycle of planning, delivery, observation and reflection, the team of local Aboriginal staff and visiting practitioners designed and piloted an innovative, user-friendly and adaptable parent–child program which was underpinned by the evaluation findings of an existing program, drawing on the framework of play therapy. The 2.5 year long process of development brought about action and change for the local Aboriginal staff. They valued the co-creation of the program and resources and reported increased knowledge of child development and confidence to deliver family support in their community. This study shows that the development of Play to Connect was more than “tailoring” a parenting program – it was a way of creating sustainable support around a program to increase the chances of continuity of implementation and successful community engagement and development.

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A late-Holocene multiproxy fire record from a tropical savanna, eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683620988030 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095968362098803

Author(s):

Emma Rehn ◽

Cassandra Rowe ◽

Sean Ulm ◽

Craig Woodward ◽

Michael Bird

Keyword(s):

Isotope Composition ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Ecosystem Dynamics ◽

Optical Methods ◽

Fire Intensity ◽

Tropical Savanna ◽

Anthropogenic Fire ◽

Pyrogenic Carbon ◽

Arnhem Land

Fire has a long history in Australia and is a key driver of vegetation dynamics in the tropical savanna ecosystems that cover one quarter of the country. Fire reconstructions are required to understand ecosystem dynamics over the long term but these data are lacking for the extensive savannas of northern Australia. This paper presents a multiproxy palaeofire record for Marura sinkhole in eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. The record is constructed by combining optical methods (counts and morphology of macroscopic and microscopic charcoal particles) and chemical methods (quantification of abundance and stable isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon by hydrogen pyrolysis). This novel combination of measurements enables the generation of a record of relative fire intensity to investigate the interplay between natural and anthropogenic influences. The Marura palaeofire record comprises three main phases: 4600–2800 cal BP, 2800–900 cal BP and 900 cal BP to present. Highest fire incidence occurs at ~4600–4000 cal BP, coinciding with regional records of high effective precipitation, and all fire proxies decline from that time to the present. 2800–900 cal BP is characterised by variable fire intensities and aligns with archaeological evidence of occupation at nearby Blue Mud Bay. All fire proxies decline significantly after 900 cal BP. The combination of charcoal and pyrogenic carbon measures is a promising proxy for relative fire intensity in sedimentary records and a useful tool for investigating potential anthropogenic fire regimes.

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Orientation for general practice in remote Aboriginal communities: A program for registrars in the Northern Territory

Australian Journal of Rural Health ◽

10.1111/j.1440-1584.2006.00810.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 202-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Simon Morgan

Keyword(s):

General Practice ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Aboriginal Communities

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Re-imaging Aboriginal leadership in higher education – A new Indigenous research paradigm

Australian Journal of Education ◽

10.1177/0004944118808364 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

pp. 276-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Linda Payi Ford ◽

Kathy Gotha Guthadjaka ◽

James Walung Daymangu ◽

Bettina Danganbar ◽

Colin Baker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Cultural Knowledge ◽

Women's Leadership ◽

Indigenous Research ◽

Paradigm Shifts ◽

Aboriginal Communities ◽

The Past ◽

Aboriginal Women ◽

Leadership In Higher Education

This article focuses on leadership by women in Indigenous research in the higher education sector of Australia. The research that provided the context for this exploration of Indigenous women’s leadership involved archiving ceremonial cultural knowledge from the Daly and Wagait regions of the Northern Territory. The article introduces the concept of Aboriginal corporeality and the struggle within colonial Australia and through to the present to prevent its erasure from Australia’s history. This struggle is referenced in the paradigm shifts underway in Indigenist research. The article acknowledges the past commitments of powerful Aboriginal women to the advancement of their clans’ people under the new circumstances that they had to confront from the 1880s. It is argued that the cultural agenda of these women prepared the ground for the advances in Indigenist research reported in this article. The article concludes with an example of the close, culturally significant partnership that was forged by the research project across two Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory.

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