Statement on Indigenous Data Governance

Statement on Indigenous Data Governance

At Aurora, we proudly support and endorse the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination and self-governance and acknowledge the critical role of data to promote these ideals.

Aurora is an Indigenous organisation that delivers education and career services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We collect data for the purposes of delivering, evaluating and reporting on these services. As such, we have access to a significant volume of Indigenous data, including individual-level data relating to the aspirations and achievements of Indigenous students from the beginning of high school through to post-graduate study.

As an Indigenous education organisation, we recognise the enormous potential of the data we hold to advance Indigenous interests in education. We also recognise the harms caused to Indigenous communities by misuses of Indigenous data and the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from data ownership and control.

Indigenous Data Sovereignty refers to the right of Indigenous peoples to exercise ownership over their own data. Indigenous Data Sovereignty may be promoted by organisations through Indigenous Data Governance mechanisms which enable Indigenous peoples to decide what, how and why Indigenous data are collected, accessed and used.[1]

At Aurora, principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance are being applied in the delivery of the Redefining Indigenous Success in Education (RISE) Project in the following ways:

  1. We endorse the Maiam nayri Wingara ‘Key Principles’ of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance.[2]
  2. We commit to collecting data that promotes the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination and supports Indigenous aspirations in education.
  3. We commit to developing Indigenous Data Governance mechanisms with advice from Indigenous Data Governance experts.
  4. As an Indigenous organisation, we act as a custodian of the data we collect and accept accountability for its responsible management and use.
  5. We guarantee that individual-level data will only be collected and released when free, prior, and informed consent has been provided and when any release is consistent with the Maiam nayri Wingara ‘Key Principles’.
  6. We commit to actively sharing learnings from the data we collect with Indigenous students, families, communities and organisations and in advocating for reform.
  7. We observe that Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property remains the property of Indigenous peoples.

As an Indigenous organisation, we work in ‘two worlds’ and our ability to give effect to Indigenous Data Governance principles may from time to time be curtailed by our obligations set out in legislation and contractual arrangements. We commit to fulfilling the above principles to the greatest extent possible in the circumstances and promoting Indigenous Data Governance in our interactions with government agencies and other funders.

We are committed to ongoing learning and will seek continuous improvement across our programs as Indigenous Data Governance practices in RISE develop and mature.

[1] https://www.maiamnayriwingara.org/key-principles

[2] As above.