Indigenising the Australian University Science Curriculum

In 2017, Universities Australia committed to the first national Indigenous Strategy which called for universities to be more inclusive, representative, and respectful of Indigenous Peoples and their knowledges (Universities Australia, 2017). Central to the strategy was teaching Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in curricula. To gauge how Australian university science faculties have responded to this strategy, this study embarked on a desktop review of Indigenous Science units across all university faculties, and further explored, through primary research, pedagogies and content of units in the Science Faculties. The desktop review of Indigenous Science units across all Faculties revealed that there was a total of 72 units, with only 19 of these units in the discipline of science. Of these units, 12 convenors (only four Indigenous) participated in an online questionnaire and eight unit convenors (three Indigenous) and a First Nations Elder participated in online interviews. The results provided key recommendations including the need to develop frameworks and policies that guide educators on how to include, teach and create appropriate assessment tasks and First Nations Community engagement.