First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre

Indigenous Diplomacy Courses

The FNSDC team coordinate and develops short courses, modules and immersive workshops aiming to introduce the cultures of Indigenous sovereignties in Australia and their distinct ways of making diplomacy in both traditional and contemporary platforms. These courses are great for people working in community development, policy making, organisational management, education and research.

Treaty Making Modules

CDU’s First Nations Diplomacy team and Law School have come together to deliver an exciting new program to increase understanding of Treaties in the Northern Territory. These Treaty Making modules are designed for anyone keen to learn:

Lawful Relations with Indigenous Peoples - the concept and history of lawful relations between First Nations Peoples and non-Indigenous people;
Indigenous and Other Sovereignties - the concept and history of sovereignty as people-place in relations between First Nations Peoples and non-Indigenous people;
Understanding Treaty - the role that treaties have played in Canada and New Zealand and might play in relations between First Nations Peoples-places and non-Indigenous people in Australia; and
Recognition, Reconciliation, Refusal - the interlinked concepts and practices of First Nations recognition, reconciliation and refusal (3Rs).

Details and cost

Who should attend? Students, CDU staff, Legal Professionals, Community Leaders, Public Servants, Educators, Business Professionals & NGO Staff. Registration is open to everyone, including current CDU students and general members of the public.

Cost: $300 per badge/module or $900 for all four badges/modules.
Location: CDU Casuarina Campus, Darwin, NT.

Digital Badge:
Completion of each module awards participants a Digital Badge, which demonstrates their completion of the module. We recommend the four modules be undertaken in the order of 1-4.

Mode:
Each module runs for 2-weeks and entails:

12 hours of self-study (through online learning materials, Padlet activities and non-assessable quizzes)
1-hour weekly webinar at the end of each week.

These webinars will be run by First Nations scholar(s) from the Northern Territory.

Registration and upcoming course dates

How to Register

Register and pay using the provided registration links or through an invoice (please get in touch with the FAS Innovation team for more information).

Upcoming modules

Module	Dates	Registration
Lawful Relations with Indigenous Peoples	22 July - 2 August, 2024	Register here
Indigenous and Other Sovereignties	12 - 23 August, 2024	Register here
Understanding Treaty	2 - 13 September, 2024	Register here
Recognition, Reconciliation, Refusal	23 September - 4 October, 2024	Register here

Package options

Registration for all four badges

22 July - 4 October 2024

If you require further information regarding the registration and payment process, please contact the Faculty of Arts and Society Innovation team on 08 8946 6278 or fasinnovations@cdu.edu.au.

First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre (FNSDC)

FNSDC is a unique ‘dual academy’ led, operated and guided by Indigenous elders in collaboration with non-Indigenous academics within the Faculty of Arts and Society. FNDC's primary focus is to extend and nurture the network of First Nations sovereign groups in Australian First Nations education and research.

FNSDC operates with the following three Yolŋu concepts in practice:

Wata - seasonal winds that explain how each group of Yolŋu recognises its place in the world through understanding the winds and breezes that come to them from other places. It talks about being in place and meeting others through connections among places.

Warraw’ – temporary ceremonial shelters where the owners of a particular landscape enact ancestral knowledges under the guidance and supervision of their guardians and custodians.

Mulka' – a space where Yolŋu elders and emerging generations comfortably sit, support each other, and work respectfully with mindfulness of reciprocal care.

Researchers/ Lectures L-R Brenda, Joy and Gawura

A long history of connection and partnership between Yolŋu scholars and elders in communities with CDU academics and researchers is the foundation of the Centre. Recognised by Indigenous communities across NT and beyond, FNSDC provides a culturally comfortable space for First Nation Authorities and teachers to come together to share knowledge and contribute to research projects, teaching-learning programs and language-related research work. These authorities provide cultural expertise and value to courses like the Indigenous Cultural Diplomacy program (Kaurareg, Mawng, Ngambri Nations) and First Nations language programs.

This work is vital in changing non-Indigenous ways of knowing the world and promoting consultative and collaborative research and teaching practices so that First Nations Rom (Culture, Law, System, Values) can be understood properly and taken seriously.

Research strengths

First Nations Knowledge Traditions and Philosophies
First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy
First Nations Languages

Find out more about Yolŋu Diplomacy through the Indigenous Diplomacy Research and Sharing Program, which elders from East Arnhem Land, Kaurareg, Wagadagam, Ngambri and South Goulburn Island nations deliver in collaboration with Charles Darwin University – Faculty of Arts and Society, and The Australian National University – Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs.

Indigenous Diplomacy Teaching and Learning