Victoria University of Wellington

This internship focused on global efforts by First Nations and Indigenous peoples to decolonise and re-indigenise child protection systems.

This project served as an introduction to the ongoing study Honourable Kāwanatanga: A Prerequisite for Constitutional Transformation. The overall study was designed to answer the following key questions:
1. What is honourable kāwanatanga?
2. How can third sector (and other) organisations strengthen and deepen their engagement with Te Tiriti?

This project uses Kaupapa Māori theory to challenge the current dominant Western explanations for suicide, which fail to consider socio-cultural-political pressures and historical processes such as colonisation as core to Indigenous suicide.

The research project is analysing the WIPO’s proposal to develop databases of Indigenous Knowledge and genetic resources through a case study on mātauranga Māori innovations in papakāinga and assessing findings about novel mātauranga vis-à-vis existing and proposed domestic and international laws regarding data in registries.

This nationwide research programme set out to deepen our understanding of the experiences, challenges, and contributions of Māori PhD graduates across Aotearoa. By tracing the post-graduation journeys of nearly 800 Māori doctoral scholars, the study aimed to highlight their intellectual, cultural, social and economic impact—within whānau, hapū, iwi and beyond.

Although the programme has since been disestablished, its kaupapa remains vital: to inform new models of Māori leadership and participation across academia, government, iwi development, and civil society.

Research on the impact of COVID-19 on Māori tends to highlight its negative outcomes. This strengths-based research project examines improvements in Māori wellbeing that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic