Community authority
Traditional Owners and communities guide how information about their Country is collected, used and shared. Cultural sites are mapped only with Traditional Owner permission and in the way they agree.
DATA SOVEREIGNTY & ETHICS
Country, knowledge
and authority.
Drone imagery, maps and AI results carry information about Country. Our approach puts Traditional Owner authority, community priorities and agreed use of that information at the centre of the work.
OUR APPROACH
Agree the purpose.
Respect the knowledge.
Agreed access and sharing
Data arrangements need to be clear for each project: what is collected, who can access it, where it is held and which outputs may be shared. Sensitive cultural locations stay off shared maps, reports and presentations.
Community benefit
We work towards useful outputs for the people and Country the project serves. Returning maps and findings to communities, and discussing what the results mean, belongs in the project plan.
Responsible AI
AI can help analyse imagery, but it does not replace cultural authority or field knowledge. AI-assisted findings need human review, and any proposed use of community data in AI needs to be agreed.
GUIDANCE FOR RESEARCH & PARTNERSHIPS
The AIATSIS
Code of Ethics.
The AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research provides a reference for ethical research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and knowledge.
Its four principles are Indigenous self-determination, Indigenous leadership, impact and value, and sustainability and accountability.
For relevant research and collaborations, these principles help frame the questions we agree with partners and communities: who leads, how consent is obtained, who benefits, and how decisions and results are reported back.
Referencing the Code does not imply AIATSIS endorsement, certification or ethics approval. Any required ethics review and project-specific permissions must be addressed separately.
Read the official AIATSIS Code ↗Explore the AIATSIS research ethics framework ↗Set the arrangements
before the work begins.
Discuss cultural permissions, data access, sharing and the outputs your community or organisation needs.
Discuss your project ↗Open the existing client data portal ↗