Data that pertains to Indigenous peoples is a complex legal and ethical terrain. Whether it is cultural, linguistic, medical or otherwise, such data usually needs to be managed and shared with care. Data may need to have access mediated under specific conditions relating, but this should not be a barrier to the proper handling and care.
There are many resources available to assist with this process, much of it specific to the Australian context:
- Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
- Australian and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Research Network (ATSILIRN) protocols
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archives (ATSIDA) protocols
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
- Deepening Histories of Place ARC project protocols and clearance forms
- Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights
- See especially Article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While not ratified by Australia, note that in Victoria defined bodies can register ICIP as of 2017, and penalties apply if violated
- Consultation on Indigenous Knowledge by IP Australia
- Kukutai K, Taylor J (2016) Indigenous data sovereignty
- Mukurtu. A free, mobile and open source CMS built with indigenous communities to manage and share digital cultural heritage
- Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) has extensive experience with handling ethnographic and musicological materials from across the pacific region. See in particular details on depositing materials, and collection of publications
- Keeping culture. A knowledge management system for Indigenous archives - a web application for preserving, organising and repatriating digital or digitised media and cultural knowledge into communities. It was first developed to support the Ara Irititja archive project of the Anangu (Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people) of Central Australia.