The following grants have been awarded by the Gender Institute

Round 1, 2024:

• Working group led by Hayley Boxall, 'She gives as good as she gets’: Understanding Misidentification as a Pathway to Aboriginal Women’s Criminalisation. Concluding December 2026. 

This project investigates the misidentification of Aboriginal women as primary perpetrators of domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) in the Central Australia. Despite the NT having the highest rates of DFSV in Australia, there is no place-based research examining the drivers and consequences of misidentification or how to prevent it. This project fills that gap through a community-led, transdisciplinary approach, combining criminology, gender studies, Indigenous studies, and public health to generate an evidence base to inform policing, legal, and service reforms.

Led by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including two Aboriginal early career researchers, the project is co-designed with Aboriginal-led organisations and centres First Nations women’s voices, using culturally safe methodologies such as yarning circles and peer-led interviews. The project will not only produce policy recommendations and training materials for frontline responders but also build capacity within Aboriginal organisations, ensuring that the research drives long-term advocacy and systemic change to better protect Aboriginal women from misidentification and its consequences.

• Working group co-led by Mercy Masta & Anouk Ride, Indigenous Pathways to Peace: Gender, Masculinity and Peacebuilding in Melanesia. Concluding December 2026.

This project aims to uncover indigenous peace practices in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands through collaborative and transdisciplinary research involving elders, practitioners, and peace histories. By focusing on community-oriented Melanesian cultures, the research will address the often overlooked group dynamics, masculinity norms, and cultural factors that drive conflict and violence.

The findings will contribute to academic knowledge through published papers and inform the development of an undergraduate peacebuilding course, fostering a new generation of peacebuilders and enhancing violence prevention and peacebuilding efforts in the sub-region.

Round 2, 2025 (upcoming)

Round 3, 2026 (upcoming)