Indigenous art and storytelling to improve road safety

Overview

The aim of this project is to combine Indigenous art and storytelling traditions to provide rich insights into Indigenous perspectives on travelling safely in country. The long-term objective is to translate the findings into road safety education resources.

Access to safe travel for work, study, visiting family and friends and for daily needs and essential services, including health services, underlies our ability to stay safe and well. While many of us can take this for granted, many people lack their own means of travel or funds for public transport or other travel needs.

Safe travel is often compromised in Indigenous communities, including in cities as well as regional and remote areas of Australia. Risk of being fatally injured as a driver is 2.5 times higher than non-Indigenous travellers, 4.6 higher as a pedestrian and 4.8 times higher as a passenger. The findings from this project will be used in efforts to extend the reach of road safety education initiatives to Indigenous communities and advocate for improved access to driver licensing services and other supports.

Project code: CARR02

Area of research: Injury prevention

Project methodology and resources

This project will use Indigenous artwork with road safety themes to prompt Indigenous storytelling around travelling safely. Stories will be recorded for 2-3 people initially as a pilot. The findings will be reported in a manuscript, including implications for Indigenous road safety education initiatives and advocacy for improved access to safe travel. This will be used to support a grant application to conduct a larger study around Queensland.

At CARRS-Q, translation of research into practice is facilitated by our partnership with the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and strong relationships with Queensland Transport and Main Roads and Queensland Police.

Location of research

QUT Kelvin Grove Campus

Prior knowledge/skills

Indigenous students are encouraged to apply for this project with two positions available. We are seeking applicants with good communication skills and interest in improving health and safety, with mentoring available for all project activities. The commitment of hours/days/weeks is flexible.

Access/resources

This is a collaborative project between CARRS-Q and Creative Industries at QUT and the Queensland Writers Centre. Day-to-day supervision and mentoring will be provided by the primary supervisor at CARRS-Q (KG K Block), with support from other QUT supervisors and potential opportunities to meet and be mentored by Indigenous elders involved in the project, depending on timing. A workspace and computer will be provided at CARRS-Q and any costs for project travel will be covered by the project.

Research activities

Literature review; Preparing ethics application; Data collection; Data analysis; Drafting or revising conference papers or journal articles. N.B. Which of these tasks will be included will depend on the timing of the study and the VRES student’s availability. Data collection will be led by Indigenous writers from the Queensland Writers Centre.

Keywords

• Indigenous
• art
• storytelling
• health
• safety
• travel

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.