CSIRO’s Indigenous Science and Engagement Program (ISEP) was established in 2021, to help realise CSIRO’s vision of a science landscape built on respectful partnerships with Indigenous Australia. Its 20-year vision is “… to have transformed the science landscape in respectful, equal partnership with Indigenous Australia, to deliver innovative, sustainable, holistic solutions to meet our greatest national challenge.[1] It was to be “disruptive”[2] and would:
- support multi-Business Unit collaboration to co-develop early science capability that can tackle the big challenges along with existing and new science solutions
- be a CSIRO connector for Indigenous partners
- offer greater opportunities for CSIRO to engage in new partnerships and strengthen existing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- respond to the priorities raised by Indigenous Australia
- offer a true partnership that would drive two-way learning opportunities and innovation.
The ISEP was operationalised by a team which grew, at July 2025, to be 22-strong, with another two positions unfilled.[3]
The Indigenous Research Grants Program, to run from 2023 to 2026 with a budget of $7.6 million, is a strong plank of the ISEP. Yulang was contracted in 2023 to evaluate processes and outcomes of the grants program. We carried out the evaluation in annual cycles, feeding findings and recommendations in each year using a continuous quality program approach.
Suggested citations
Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2023). Evaluation of year 1 of the Indigenous Research Grants Program. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2024). Indigenous Research Grants Program evaluation framework. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2024). Development of the Indigenous evaluation framework and reporting template. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2024). Evaluation of year 2 of the Indigenous Research Grants Program. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
Williams, M. & Ragg, M. (2025). Evaluation of year 3 of the Indigenous Research Grants Program. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
Ragg, M. & Williams, M. (2026). Evaluation of the Indigenous Research Grants Program: Year 4. CSIRO: Commercial-in confidence.
References
[1] Indigenous Science & Engagement team. (n.d.). Indigenous Science and Engagement Beyond 2026. p. 6
[2] Ibid, p.6
[3] ibid
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