Our research and ethics committee

We are excited to be in a research expansion phase. Supportive funders, engaged with our vision and values, are enabling us to extend our research. In 2020, we published our first research report as part of a three-year participatory action research project with eleven communities, and published our Community Development Framework and final report for the research project in 2021.

We have been undertaking monitoring, evaluation and action research within our community development activities for many years. Now it is time to share our findings – and our methodologies – more widely. We will continue to apply and win more research grants to grow our research efforts.

To support this growth, we have reviewed and strengthened the governance arrangements we have in place around our research activities.

What do we mean by research?

At Community First Development, ‘research success’ is research that is requested, led and delivered by First Nations’ people and communities. It is undertaken through deep listening and strives to achieve the outcomes that communities have set out to achieve.

Research has traditionally been the domain of universities and institutions. While things are changing for the better, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are too often the research subjects, rather than the drivers of research. Too often we see non-First Nations’ researchers go on to write multiple journals and influence policy, but with very little actual impact on the ground for those the research is focused on: First Nations’ people and communities.

Our research is situated in a space where there is little existing First Nations’-driven research, an important space that we need to be part of. With our research, as a First Nations’ organisation, we envision that we will create impact for First Nations’ communities and create positive change at the policy level.

Research and ethics committee

Our Research and Ethics Committee is a sub-committee of our Board and it plays a critical role in ensuring that our research aligns with the values and strategic vision of the organisation.

The committee provides leadership, advice and direction on Community First Development’s research activities and projects. The committee also has the capacity to provide a review of the ethics of our research activities.

Committee Members

Lauren Ganley, Director and Chair of Committee

Lauren is the Head of Telstra’s First Nations Strategy and Engagement, where she leads the strategy and ongoing governance of engagement with First Nations people and communities.

Dr Anne Martin, Director and Committee Member

Director of the Tjabal Centre at the Australian National University (ANU).

Donna Stephens, Committee Member

A proud Murran/ Iwaidja woman from the Coburg Peninsula in northwest Arnhem land, former Community First Development Fellow and Social and Emotional Wellbeing Manager at Aboriginal and Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT).

Stephanie Harvey, CEO and Committee Member

Steph is a Bidjara woman from Queensland and a third sector leader with a career that spans government, community and NFP.

The Research and Ethics committee is highly specialised, with an emphasis on those who are skilled and well regarded in ethics and governance practice. Our current and future research is in good hands, with each member contributing their specific governance, research and evaluation expertise within First Nations’ settings.