Integrity, Ethics and Compliance
As a researcher, you need to be aware of your obligations when using someone else's intellectual property and your rights to protect your own intellectual property.
Intellectual property is protected by laws, such as copyright, patents, trademarks, plant breeders’ rights and design rights. These laws protect the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property. Intellectual property legislation is national, however, there are international conventions (or agreements) on minimum standards of intellectual property protection.
To learn more about the practical aspects of intellectual property, refer to the Intellectual Property policy which promotes the advancement and transmission of knowledge generated in connection with teaching or research within the university. This policy describes the ownership, management, development and utilisation of intellectual property created by staff and students of, and visitors to the university.
Indigenous cultural and intellectual property (ICIP) includes traditional medicine, traditional tools and technology, environmental knowledge, art, symbols, music, dance and stories.
Western intellectual property laws are based on the concept of property ownership and commercial usage rights. Under Indigenous customary law, ownership of and access to knowledge (intellectual property) depend on criteria including gender, age, seniority, kinship and connections to the land.
Copyright protects tangible cultural expressions, such as written works rather than intangible oral traditions or ideas. According to the Copyright Act, copyright in a traditional story could be owned by the researcher who writes it down, not by the community that preserves the oral tradition. Copyright has an expiration date while oral traditions continue indefinitely. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive is a valuable resource to further explore intellectual property, copyright and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge.
To protect Indigenous cultural and intellectual property:
In October 2020 AIATSIS published the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research (the AIATSIS Code). The AIATSIS Code respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values and worldviews, acknowledging the wisdom and diversity of Indigenous knowledge systems.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research includes all research that impacts on or is of particular significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the planning, collection, analysis and dissemination of information or knowledge, in any format or medium, which is about, or may affect, Indigenous peoples, either collectively or individually.
It is important to understand that the AIATSIS Code applies to more than just human research involving Indigenous people.
The AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research states, you require ethical review if the research impacts on or is of a particular significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the planning, collection, analysis and dissemination of information or knowledge, in any format or medium, which is about or may affect Indigenous peoples, either collectively or individually.
Under the code, researchers have a responsibility to:
Recognise the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be engaged in research that affects or is of particular significance to them.
Engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and respect their legal rights and local laws, customs and protocols (R19).
An agreement should cover the process for managing both pre-existing ICIP and IP resulting from the research, including publication and commercialisation.
IP Australia has more information on how to engage with ICIP and protect Indigenous knowledge within the current formal legal framework.
The Australian Research Data Commons has a Guide to working with Indigenous data for First Nations researchers and owners of Traditional Knowledge.
When in doubt, find out. It is recommended that attention to detail be applied in matters of intellectual property, especially Indigenous cultural intellectual property. You can always seek advice from a research integrity advisor or the research integrity unit.