This subject provides postgraduate students with an advanced and critical understanding of the diverse, dynamic, and enduring cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—Australia’s Original Custodians. Emphasising the distinctiveness of these cultural groups, the subject explores key differences in geographic distribution, cultural laws and protocols, kinship structures, gender roles, and socio-political systems.

Students will engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders histories prior to British invasion in 1788, and critically examine the impacts of colonisation, including dispossession, violence, protectionist policies, forced removals, assimilation, and the ongoing struggle for land rights, sovereignty, and justice. The subject traces the evolution of government and societal responses to Original Custodians—from colonisation to federation and into the present, with a focus on policy eras including protection, segregation, integration, self-determination, and reconciliation.

Through critical engagement with contemporary issues, students will analyse the systemic and structural inequalities facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities today, including in the areas of health, education, justice and community services. The subject foregrounds the importance of cultural authority, kinship systems, Indigenous knowledge systems, and community-led initiatives in driving change.

Of relevance to professionals in the community services (social work) sector, the subject interrogates the historical and current relationship between service systems and Original Custodians. It challenges students to reflect on the legacies of colonial power in practice and policy, and to develop advanced capabilities in culturally responsive, ethical, and strengths-based engagement.

Students are expected to apply a high level of critical self-reflection and demonstrate autonomy and initiative in developing strategies for decolonising professional practice and working collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families, and communities.