Decolonising research at a regional university: A story of aspiration, resilience and hope

The Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre (ITRC) at the University of the Sunshine Coast began as a small collective of like-minded scholars who wanted to make a difference. Over the last decade, we have manifested our aspirations, expanded our scope and are hopeful about our future. We emerge post-pandemic with a critical mass of researchers from an assortment of disciplines and are contemplating our next phase. Founded and co-directed by women professors, the ITRC partners with Indigenous and transcultural communities comprised of migrants, refugees and people from culturally diverse backgrounds to deliver meaningful and useful research that manifestly improves the lives and wellbeing of First Nations and culturally diverse peoples. While much of our work centres on Australia, we have emergent partnerships with Indigenous and transcultural communities in other Global South nations through which we hope to nurture impactful co-research opportunities and community capacity exchange. Our resilience and continued commitment to generating a new vision for academic knowledge that inculcates recognition and engagement with Indigenous and transcultural knowledge systems is making a difference at our regional university. Indeed, we hope to spark cultural growth, inspire the decolonisation of research and leave a legacy of transformation and research that matters.