Reflecting on 40 years of research in the Kimberley
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
27-5-2026 4:00 PM
Description
Patrick Sullivan is a political anthropologist whose work for Aboriginal organisations since the early 1980s has involved practical research and advice on issues of land use and distribution, community control of community development, and governance institutions at the local and regional levels. For two separate periods he was the Senior Anthropologist for the Kimberley Land Council, formulating anthropological and policy advice on local, national and international projects, as well as native title cases. From 2002 to 2012 he was a Research Fellow, and Senior Research Fellow, in Indigenous Regional Organisation, Governance and Public Policy at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. He worked as a Professor with us at Nulungu from 2015 from 2025. Officially retiring at this time, Patrick has since been working on a biography in 5 which he reflects on the experiences of a life spent working alongside Kimberley Aboriginal people, and contemplating public policy impacts on the ground. Patrick will share with us some stories and observations, some funny, some excruciating, from 40 years of working in this space.
Recommended Citation
Sullivan, Patrick, "Reflecting on 40 years of research in the Kimberley" (2026). Nulungu Research Week. 4.
https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_researchweek/2026/schedule/4
Reflecting on 40 years of research in the Kimberley
https://notredame-au.zoom.us/j/87436013522
Passcode: 557277
Patrick Sullivan is a political anthropologist whose work for Aboriginal organisations since the early 1980s has involved practical research and advice on issues of land use and distribution, community control of community development, and governance institutions at the local and regional levels. For two separate periods he was the Senior Anthropologist for the Kimberley Land Council, formulating anthropological and policy advice on local, national and international projects, as well as native title cases. From 2002 to 2012 he was a Research Fellow, and Senior Research Fellow, in Indigenous Regional Organisation, Governance and Public Policy at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. He worked as a Professor with us at Nulungu from 2015 from 2025. Officially retiring at this time, Patrick has since been working on a biography in 5 which he reflects on the experiences of a life spent working alongside Kimberley Aboriginal people, and contemplating public policy impacts on the ground. Patrick will share with us some stories and observations, some funny, some excruciating, from 40 years of working in this space.
Comments
Session Facilitator: Assoc Professor Melissa Marshall