When Data meets Country: Putting Indigenous Data Sovereignty into Practice

As governments, researchers and environmental organisations collect more information about Country, water, plants, animals and cultural knowledge, an important question is being asked: who should control that data?

Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov) is about ensuring First Nations peoples have the right to decide how information connected to their communities, cultures and Countries is collected, used, stored and shared.

Many organisations want to work respectfully with Indigenous communities, but they are not always sure how to do this. Understanding who has cultural authority, gaining proper consent, and creating governance processes that support First Nations decision-making can be challenging.

At Terri Janke and Company (TJC), we work with government and non-government organisations to help them understand what Indigenous Data Sovereignty means in practice and how to build respectful and culturally safe approaches to managing Indigenous data.

Key Considerations for Organisations Working with Indigenous Data

Many organisations and government departments involved in environmental management, water planning and biodiversity conservation and land stewardship collect, use and share information that relate to Indigenous peoples, Country, cultural knowledge and traditional ecological practices. As the collection and use of environmental data grows, organisations are increasingly asking how they can ensure First Nations peoples retain authority over Indigenous Data and participate in decisions about its management.

Implementing IDSov involves understanding how Indigenous Data Governance (IDGov) can be embedded into policies, processes and decision-making structures so that First Nations peoples have a meaningful role in determining how Indigenous data is collected, accessed, interpreted, stored and shared.

Many organisations face practical questions, including:

• What is Indigenous Data and how can it be identified?

• How can organisations recognise and respect cultural authority in decision-making?

• When is consent required, and who should provide it?

• How should Indigenous Data be governed, stored and shared?

• What responsibilities arise when environmental, scientific or cultural information intersects with Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP)?

• How can organisations align their practices with emerging frameworks such as the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance?

  
  

To address these challenges, organisations should build staff capability in IDSov and develop practical approaches that support respectful engagement with Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities. This includes understanding:

• What Indigenous Data is and where it may appear across organisational activities

• The principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance, and how they can be applied in practice

• The relationship between IDSov and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), including traditional knowledge, cultural heritage and cultural expressions

• Relevant legal, policy and ethical frameworks that support Indigenous control over Indigenous Data

• Best-practice approaches to managing Indigenous Data in environmental, water and natural resource contexts

• Practical strategies for engaging with Traditional Owners and supporting Indigenous-led decision-making

By embedding these considerations into their work, organisations can move beyond compliance and contribute to more respectful, transparent and equitable partnerships with First Nations peoples.

Why It Matters

Respecting Indigenous Data Sovereignty ensures that Traditional Owners retain control over how their knowledge is collected, interpreted, and used. For water and environmental organisations, this means treating Traditional Owners as rights holders, and actively supporting self-determination in land and water management.

By investing in this understanding, water and environmental organisations can help ensure that data related to First Nations people, knowledges, practices, and Country is handled with integrity, transparency, and respect. TJC offers leading expertise in IDSov, grounded in decades of experience working with First Nations communities and organisations. With a culturally informed and legally grounded approach, TJC is committed to supporting organisations in not only understanding IDSov but also in actively contributing to its advancement across the environmental sector.

Looking to strengthen Indigenous Data Sovereignty practices within your

organisation?

Our upcoming Law Way session — Country and Data: Applying Indigenous Data Sovereignty in Environmental Work — will explore what implementation actually looks like, with real examples from a water law perspective, presented by Senior Solicitor Emma Fitch.

Find out more and register here: https://events.humanitix.com/country-and-data-applying-indigenous-data-sovereignty-in-environmental-work