Indigenous Studies Unit - University of Melbourne

17/09/2026

What happens when discredited ideas about race continue to shape contemporary politics and public debate?

In a new opinion piece for the National Indigenous Times , Laureate Professor Marcia Langton AO examines the history and continuing influence of scientific racism and eugenics in Australia.

Professor Langton traces how racial hierarchies were given the appearance of scientific legitimacy, despite having no coherent basis in modern genetics, and considers how similar ideas continue to surface in political and media discourse today.

She also examines a confronting part of the University of Melbourne’s own history: the collection of Aboriginal ancestral remains by its anatomy department in the early twentieth century to support theories of white racial supremacy.

Read Professor Langton’s full article in the National Indigenous Times: https://nit.com.au/16-09-2026/26504/racist-pseudo-science-still-shapes-australian-politics



The University of Melbourne
Onemda: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing

Pauline Hanson speaking about Aboriginal people on a white Christian podcast last year said 'they're the most primitive race on Earth and we're supposed to be holding them up and saying what they've a...

08/09/2026

Today is FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Awareness Day. This year DrinkWise is running a new campaign to reinforce advice that women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol.

Wiradjuri woman and GP-obstetrician Dr Sarah Jane Springer told National Indigenous Times es that FASD is a lifelong condition with lasting "knock-on effects".

"It happens when a baby is exposed to alcohol during pregnancy, and it can affect things like learning, memory, behaviour, language, and decision making; which is really important when we're talking about all of those things that can occur throughout people's life and their ability to make good choices for themselves," she said.

"One really important message is that FASD is preventable, and we want to do everything that we possibly can to make sure that our babies are the healthiest and strongest that they possibly can be for life.”

Ahead of International FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Awareness Day on 9 September, proud Wiradjuri woman and GP-obstetrician Dr Sarah Jane Springer is joining DrinkWise to reinforce the advic...

03/09/2026

We were honoured to be invited to the One Fire Many Flames Conference on Kaurna Country. As Chief Investigators, Laureate Professor Marcia Langton AO & Associate Professor Kristen Smith presented findings from our NHMRC Ideas research on Alcohol-related family violence in Indigenous Australia (2021-2026).

01/09/2026

Today is Indigenous Literacy Day! Run by The Indigenous Literacy Foundation , the day celebrates First Nations stories, cultures and languages. This year’s theme is Country Is Our Teacher. You can register for a free film and livestream event on the ILF website.

And don’t forget to grab a copy of My Walk Through the Seasons on Ngaanyatjarra Country written by Ngaanyatjarra Elder, artist, and storyteller Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, which also launches today!

05/08/2026

The Indigenous Studies Unit has TWO fantastic events coming up for anyone working with (or likely to work with) Indigenous data!

Our free one-day Indigenous Data Governance Masterclass will run on November 30 and will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to ethically manage Indigenous data, respecting the cultural protocols and sovereignty of Indigenous communities. Registration essential.

The IDN Indigenous Datathon 2026 will run on December 1 & 2. Participants will work with datasets sourced directly from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, with both organisations also assisting in securing further data from external custodians. The event is delivered in official collaboration with our Industry Partner, the Productivity Commission. The topic of this year's Datathon is the national Closing the Gap targets. We welcome participants with a wide range of backgrounds and skills who are interested in engaging with health and business data and strongly encourage the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. EOIs are open now and close on September 30.

To read more or register/apply, visit:

News & Events

03/08/2026

The 2026 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day theme is Living Our Truth, honouring the power of truth-telling, the sharing of knowledge across generations and the importance of telling our stories.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, held each year on 4 August since 1988.

The day is led by SNAICC-National Voice for our Children the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak body representing children, young people and families, and is an opportunity for all Australians to recognise and celebrate the strength, pride and potential of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

For 2026, Living Our Truth celebrates the voices, stories and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities. It recognises the importance of truth-telling as a foundation for identity, belonging and cultural strength, and honours the role of Elders and community in passing knowledge to the next generation.

This year, we celebrate children as the next generation of leaders; confident, proud and ready to carry forward the strong voices, stories and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities.

10/07/2026

Authors of the First Knowledges book series gathered at Government House during NAIDOC Week, hosted by Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of Australia to launch the new box-set collection

Laureate Professor Marcia Langton AO paid tribute to the books’ editor Margo Ngawa Nealein her address, saying that taken together the book amount to "nothing less than a curriculum for the nation”.

"Margo conceived of this series with characteristic audacity. She understood that Indigenous knowledge could not be conveyed to Australian readers as anthropology, as curiosity, or as heritage. It had to be conveyed as knowledge — living, rigorous, useful, and urgently relevant to the future of this country,” said Professor Langton.

"Her insistence that each volume be a collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors was itself a statement of method: two ways of knowing, walking together, neither subordinate to the other. Ten books later, with this magnificent box set wrapped in a reproduction of a painting by Alec Baker and Kunmanara Mungkuri, Nganampa Ngura, Our Country, her vision is complete, and it is a landmark in Australian publishing.”

Professor Langton closed her remarks with an extension of the invitation offered at the end of the book Law.

"You may wonder what you can do, individually, to embrace this law. The answer is simple. First, and foremost: respect everyone and everything, in the knowledge that we are all related to everything else. Think before you act. Honour your ancestors, care for your home and environments, understand your past and your present, and plan for a shared future for all.”

[Photo credit: Inga Davis]

The University of Melbourne
Onemda: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing

09/07/2026

This week we were visited by a Palestinian Women’s Health, Leadership and Empowerment Delegation with support from Project Rozana. The event was hosted by Onemda: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing and Laureate Professor Marcia Langton AO.

It was a privilege to come together and share knowledge and insights, similarities and parallels, within the contexts of our own cultures and experiences.

06/07/2026

Laureate Professor Marcia Langton AO was interviewed by Julian Morrow on ABC Radio National ahead of her Rechnitz Memorial Lecture on July 14.

You can listen to the interview here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/marcia-langton-rechnitz-lecture/106877164

Professor Langton is delivering the lecture as the inaugural recipient of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia’s Rechnitz Memorial Award.

Created to recognise excellence in research leadership and the advancement of knowledge of Indigenous society, culture and language, the award honours Professor Langton’s extraordinary contribution across more than four decades.

A descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara nations, Professor Langton has long championed the rights, voices and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through scholarship, public leadership and advocacy.
In her lecture, Being and Knowing, Professor Langton will reflect on the challenges to distinctive Aboriginal ways of being and knowing, and ask: What is our future in our own land?

📅 : Tuesday 14 July
⏲️ : 5.30pm
🏛️ Old Quad Building, University of Melbourne
💲: $10 per person or free for students/unwaged
🎟️ : https://events.humanitix.com/rechnitz-memorial-lecture

Professor Marcia Langton explores "the challenges to distinctive Aboriginal ways of being and knowing" in advance of her inaugural Rechnitz Memorial Lecture. Guest: Marcia Langton, Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. Professor Langton is presenting the inaugura...

06/07/2026

Happy National NAIDOC Week! This year’s theme is ‘50 Years of Deadly’.

Congratulations to all of the 2026 National NAIDOC Awards finalists.

Our thoughts are also with the family of Rhoda Roberts AO, named this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for her extraordinary leadership and lasting impact on Australia’s arts and cultural landscape.

To find an event in your local area or to read about the finalists, head to the NAIDOC website: https://www.naidoc.org.au/