14/05/2026
Where We Belong: Connecting Indigenous identity and wellbeing in the city is a 3-year (2025-2028) community-designed research project led and governed by Indigenous Peoples, and based at the Australian National University (ANU).
In the past, research which focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander belonging has emphasised the ways in which we belong to the land, and how our physical and spiritual connection to our ancestral Country/ies creates and reinforces our place in the world. However, there has not been much focus on what this means and looks like in cities, where many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups from all over Australia live together. This project aims to gather together our stories about how finding and growing our sense of belonging – to family, community, culture, and Country – can influence our overall wellbeing.
The project’s main focus is with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the ACT region (Canberra/Queanbeyan). The project team will also undertake a 3-month international collaboration with a First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community partner in Toronto (Tkarōn:to), Canada, and that portion of the project will be designed with those partners in 2026.
We are currently recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, aged 16 years and up, who live in Canberra and Queanbeyan to have a yarn about their experiences of identity, belonging, community, and wellbeing in the city. Interviews will take place at the ANU, last between 30-90 minutes, and you will receive an $80 gift card in thanks for your participation. If you are interested in being interviewed, please email [email protected] and the Study Director, Dr Sarah Bourke, will be in touch to organise a pre-interview yarn.
