In this paper I will introduce my doctoral research ‘Changing the paradigms: implementing Aboriginal methodologies and critiquing how ‘Whiteness’ is centred in cultural heritage recording and Knowledge’. My research aims to explore ways in which the dominant processes of cultural heritage recording include or exclude Aboriginal peoples’ ways of knowing about cultural heritage and, by extension, their methods for recording and communicating about it. My research also explores the impact of processes on the way in which cultural heritage is regulated and the methodologies used by different stakeholders. I will focus on a number of case studies, engaging with Aboriginal community controlled organisations. I will also interview cultural heritage academic, cultural heritage custodians and cultural heritage regulators or managers. My case study areas have been chosen because of a recent history of land use conflict between the imperative of cultural heritage conservation and the pressures of mining development, or because of community involvement in cultural heritage management of Aboriginal cultural landscapes.

My research also acknowledges Aboriginal voices (worldwide), who are calling for a critique of ‘Whiteness’ and deconstruction of power that is centred in dominant research institutions and regulatory bodies.  This dominance continues to inform racialised ways of knowing that marginalises Aboriginal people in all aspects of life including education, employment, health and dignity.