A world-first guide on the respectful sharing of Aboriginal traditional knowledge has been awarded one of the research sector's highest accolades.

The world-first "Community Guide to Aboriginal Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protocols" produced by the Desert Knowledge CRC has been chosen as one of the winners of this year's Cooperative Research Centres Association Awards for Excellence in Innovation at the CRCA's annual conference in Alice Springs on Friday evening.

The Community Guide illustrates complex issues of intellectual property negotiation using Aboriginal dot paintings and plain language. It has been created to assist partnerships between Aboriginal people and researchers working in areas that aim to ‘close the gap' of Aboriginal social disadvantage or wishing to learn more about the culture, traditions and other information held by Aboriginal communities.

"Most Aboriginal people speak English as a second, third or fourth language. Explaining how ethical research and respect for intellectual property work is complex and requires a new way of communicating between researchers and Aboriginal people," explains DKCRC managing director Jan Ferguson.

"To overcome these problems DKCRC established an extensive dialogue with Aboriginal organisations and researchers to develop the Aboriginal Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protocol (AKIPP).This has been recognised by the United Nations as breaking new ground in respectful relations between researchers and indigenous people in world terms.

"The prizewinning Community Guide is based directly on these protocols and explains how they work, so that anyone can understand them. It artistically beautiful, clearly presented and is highly regarded by Aboriginal communities across the Central Desert regions."

The Guide is already being used by government departments and researchers to improve cooperative relationships with Aboriginal people and to avoid confusion, misunderstanding and mistrust in addressing the key issues of Aboriginal disadvantage in Australia today. The Guide explains the complex issues of intellectual property rights in clear, transparent language and illustrates the process of reaching agreement about knowledge sharing in five vivid dot paintings by noted Aboriginal desert artists. It states that:
• Aboriginal people own their knowledge.
• All research that concerns Aboriginal people must respect Aboriginal culture and knowledge.
• Everyone is equal in the research and has a shared understanding of what it is about.
• The Protocol makes sure that researchers who work with Aboriginal people and the DKCRC do the right thing. The Guide explains that the

Protocol gives the traditional owners full control over how the knowledge can and cannot be used, and if there is to be any commercial use made of the knowledge, there must be a legal agreement and benefits must flow to the traditional owners involved. Ms Ferguson says that the Knowledge Protocol and Community guide will be used extensively in the work of the new CRC for Remote Economic Participation (CRC-REP), which takes over from DKCRC on July 1 this year with the goal of helping close the gap for Aboriginal and other remote Australians by research:
• To develop new ways to strengthen regional economies across remote Australia
• To build new enterprises that provide jobs and livelihoods in remote areas
• To improve the education and training pathways for people living in remote areas. "We need to work closely in partnership with Aboriginal

Communities across remote Australia to close the gap of disadvantage that confronts them. And we need to do it on their terms, not simply on terms laid down in distant capital cities. The Community Guide enables the research to take place that will ultimately help close the gap," Ms Ferguson says. "It also assures Aboriginal people that they are in charge of their own knowledge - and no-one can take it from them. It shows respect. "These things are essential if we are to build the new enterprises, skills, opportunities and livelihoods on which our remote communities will depend in future," she says.

More information: www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au

The Aboriginal Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protocol Community Guide is available on the web here.