THIS IS NOT A GUIDE TO INDIGENOUS RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

Abstract

Development of research partnerships can cause confusion, as there is not and cannot be a step-by-step guidebook to community partnerships. Each one is different because each partnership is unique. The aim of this article is to unpack some of the workings of Indigenous research partnerships. In this article we use a mini-literature review of Australian research, and methods of self-reflection and ‘Yarning’ to draw on our research partnership experiences of having been community partners to researchers, as researchers ourselves partnering with community, and Indigenous knowledge shared with us through collaborative research, and community relationships. The literature review is a tool to show the tendency for research partnership methods to be viewed as hierarchical and/or lateral based on the descriptions within the literature, and illustrate some of the issues experienced from an Indigenous perspective when operating within a Western paradigm. Although research partnerships can be complex, the rewards of the collaboration are many, including benefits for all partners and research outcomes that can be adopted at the community level. Emerging issues include partnership methodologies, evaluation and quality assurance.

Keywords:

• research partnership
• Indigenous
• participation
• communication
• quality
• evaluation