🌺 Community Research Excellence: PARC at UQ, 26 September 2024
Dr Inez Fainga’a-Manusione, Dr Ruth (Lute) Faleolo, and Associate Professor Dion Enari delivered a powerful presentation at the University of Queensland on the theme “Community Research Excellence: Using Indigenous Ways of Being, Knowing, and Doing.” Representing the Pacific Australia Research Centre (PARC), they shared the importance of culturally grounded research, the centrality of tauhi vā (relational space), and the role of Pacific self-determination in driving meaningful change.

Through a prayerful and culturally anchored gathering, the team explored Pasifika research methodologies, positionality, and frameworks that centre Pacific values, elders, and communities. With a strong focus on connection before content, they critiqued census limitations, highlighted visual data on Pasifika presence in Australia, and advocated for inclusive, co-designed approaches that honour oral knowledge and cultural wisdom.

This presentation exemplified PARC’s commitment to Indigenous excellence, relational ethics, and transformative, Pacific-led research in Australia.