Maria Raciti

In these disruptive, post-truth times, critical social marketing operates within an ecology of ignorance that both shapes and reflects our practice. This keynote calls for critical social marketing to confront its complicity in environments where misinformation, disrupted attention, and competing narratives undermine change efforts. Drawing on Indigenous relationality and agnotology, this keynote argues that critical thinking is not the intellectual antidote to ignorance we think it is and calls for a reorientation toward resonance. The keynote presents the provocation: Is the most pressing behaviour change we need to make our own?

Join Professors Catherine Manathunga and Maria Raciti, Co-Directors of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre, in this one-hour HDR Masterclass workshop on supervising Indigenous and culturally diverse doctoral candidates.

In this interactive session, Catherine and Maria, will provide details of their recent ARC funded research exploring how we might implementing Indigenous knowledge approaches in Australian doctoral education. We will showcase our research-based web resources and engage participants in a short time mapping session that enables candidates and supervisors to share aspects on their cultural knowledges and how these might feature in their research and their supervision pedagogy.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

In a world saturated with information, why does ignorance still thrive?

What keeps us from shifting our thinking—even when the evidence is clear?

At this latest forum hosted by the Behaviourial Economics (BE Curious) Community of Practice (Qld State Government), we invite you to join us to see Professor Maria Raciti (University of the Sunshine Coast) and behavioural strategist Mike Daniels present as they each delve deeper into the disciplines of agnotology and psychological inertia: the deliberate cultivation of ignorance, and the invisible forces that hold our minds in place. Together these speakers will challenge you to rethink how trust, evidence, and policy collide.

Grounded in relations, geared for impact: An ethics of care and responsibility in Indigenous Futures research

As the first Indigenous-led ARC Centre of Excellence, the Indigenous Futures Centre (IFC) carries the hopes and expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for unbound futures. Now emerging from its establishment phase, the IFC advances an Indigenous ethics of care through its research. The approach is grounded in relations, responsibility, reciprocity and self-determination. It challenges dominant research paradigms that prioritise speed, scale and outputs over people, process and place. Instead, the Centre holds to relational accountability, recognising that knowledge is produced within networks of obligation: to Country, to Ancestors to Community and to future generations. Care, in this context, is methodological and ethical; and is foundational to achieving outcomes that honour the past, are meaningful in the present and sustainable over time.

By prioritising responsibility over authority, working at a pace that honours consent and story, and designing research that has intergenerational value, the IFC fosters long-term impact, not just through policy and systems change, but also through deep, enduring relationships with Indigenous people and communities and beyond. The approach is about doing research differently, with greater depth and integrity. It ensures that research does not merely generate knowledge but also contributes to structural transformation and lasting benefit. The panel will provide an overview of the IFC and explore how an Indigenous ethics of care and responsibility underpins its research approach, laying the foundations for sustainable, impactful outcomes in Indigenous futures.

Creating positive social change often begins with something simple: people choosing to do things differently. This keynote fleshes out the notion of behaviour change and how, when individuals, families, and communities shift their actions, they shape their futures. Behaviour change cuts across sectors and disciplines and is frequently woven into solutions by governments, practitioners, and researchers—often without being recognised as such. Yet, for all involved, it’s becoming increasingly clear that behaviour change is harder to achieve in today’s VUCA world. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are making it more difficult to capture the attention of those who stand to benefit most. This keynote will explore key VUCA-driven barriers to behaviour change to inform the design of more effective initiatives.

This presentation explores what Australia can learn from South Africa’s higher education equity reforms as it prepares to implement the Universities Accord. Through a comparative case study, several key insights emerge. First, Australia must manage growth carefully to avoid reproducing inequality through rising student debt—a warning clearly illustrated by South Africa’s experience. Second, South Africa’s nested equity approach—addressing both race and socio-economic status—offers a valuable model for tackling intersecting disadvantage more effectively. Lastly, Australia could expand its policy thinking by strengthening epistemic access, improving tuition debt arrangements, and repositioning Recognition of Prior Learning as a tool for social justice as key takeaways from South Africa’s equity policy journey. This research encourages the continuation and expansion of the equity alliance between Australia and South Africa to achieve fairer, more inclusive higher education systems.

As the federal election approaches, it’s crucial to explore the potential impact of political shifts on higher education, equity policy, and funding.

Join this webinar where leading national and international experts in higher education will discuss these issues and help equip equity practitioners, policymakers, and university leaders with insights and advocacy strategies ahead of the election.