Indigenous Knowledges in Higher Education: constraints to inclusion
1
College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University, Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide, Australia
2
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Higher education in Australia remains marked by entrenched inequities, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students continuing to be underrepresented and having lower completion rates.1,3 Exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges and limited Indigenous content in curricula are recognised as contributing factors and barriers to success for these students.4–6 Curricula that includes and values Indigenous Knowledges supports success, but also benefits non-Aboriginal peoples’ teaching and learning.7,8 Despite this, fewer than half of Australian universities report including Indigenous Knowledges in their education programs.3
METHODS:
This qualitative study investigated constraints to the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges in higher education by conducting in-depth interviews with senior non-Indigenous academics (School Heads, Portfolio Heads, Professor, Associate Professor) at an Australian university. Interview data were deidentified and thematically analysed.
RESULTS:
Nine senior academics offered personal and professional insights which, upon analysis, led to the identification of a range of interrelated constraints underpinning the ongoing exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges. These included structural and systemic, epistemic, and operational and professional factors. Examination of these revealed ways in which white normativity, white possessive logic and settler moves to innocence manifest and are deployed as strategies to sustain the exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges. More specifically, claims to busyness, epistemic and affective investments, and institutional funding and accountability measures collectively impeded the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges.
CONCLUSIONS:
Together, the identified outcomes collectively hinder meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges in higher education and, as such, contribute to long-standing educational inequities. As education is a recognised social determinant of health, the impact of these inequities extends more broadly, presenting as an important public health concern requiring action.
Higher education in Australia remains marked by entrenched inequities, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students continuing to be underrepresented and having lower completion rates.1,3 Exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges and limited Indigenous content in curricula are recognised as contributing factors and barriers to success for these students.4–6 Curricula that includes and values Indigenous Knowledges supports success, but also benefits non-Aboriginal peoples’ teaching and learning.7,8 Despite this, fewer than half of Australian universities report including Indigenous Knowledges in their education programs.3
METHODS:
This qualitative study investigated constraints to the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges in higher education by conducting in-depth interviews with senior non-Indigenous academics (School Heads, Portfolio Heads, Professor, Associate Professor) at an Australian university. Interview data were deidentified and thematically analysed.
RESULTS:
Nine senior academics offered personal and professional insights which, upon analysis, led to the identification of a range of interrelated constraints underpinning the ongoing exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges. These included structural and systemic, epistemic, and operational and professional factors. Examination of these revealed ways in which white normativity, white possessive logic and settler moves to innocence manifest and are deployed as strategies to sustain the exclusion of Indigenous Knowledges. More specifically, claims to busyness, epistemic and affective investments, and institutional funding and accountability measures collectively impeded the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges.
CONCLUSIONS:
Together, the identified outcomes collectively hinder meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Knowledges in higher education and, as such, contribute to long-standing educational inequities. As education is a recognised social determinant of health, the impact of these inequities extends more broadly, presenting as an important public health concern requiring action.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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