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Where We Belong: Connecting Indigenous identity and wellbeing in the city is a 3-year (2025-2028) community-designed research project led and governed by Indigenous Peoples, and based at the Australian National University (ANU).

In the past, research which focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander belonging has emphasised the ways in which we belong to the land, and how our physical and spiritual connection to our ancestral Country/ies creates and reinforces our place in the world. However, there has not been much focus on what this means and looks like in cities, where many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups from all over Australia live together.  This project aims to gather together our stories about how finding and growing our sense of belonging – to family, community, culture, and Country – can influence our overall wellbeing.

The project’s main focus is with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the ACT region (Canberra/Queanbeyan). The project team will also undertake a 3-month international collaboration with a First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community partner in Toronto (Tkarōn:to), Canada, and that portion of the project will be designed with those partners in 2026.

We are currently recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, aged 16 years and up, who live in Canberra and Queanbeyan to have a yarn about their experiences of identity, belonging, community, and wellbeing in the city. Interviews will take place at the ANU, last between 30-90 minutes, and you will receive an $80 gift card in thanks for your participation. If you are interested in being interviewed, please email us at wwbstudy@anu.edu.au and the Study Director, Dr Sarah Bourke, will be in touch to organise a pre-interview yarn.

Community Governance Group, with project team members Sarah Bourke and Makayla Holz

About the artwork

This artwork by Kalara Gilbert was commissioned for the Where We Belong study.

Kalara Gilbert is a Wiradjuri artist currently based in Canberra. As a painter, woodworker, and pencil artist, Kalara enjoys all forms of art. Her colourful paintings pay homage to Country and she views art as a way of not so much thinking of what to paint but instead being silent and waiting for creation to speak. Feeling very lucky to be a part such beautiful Country, most of her art is based on the surrounding landscapes as well as the plants and animals that live there. Kalara is passionate about telling stories through painting and bringing awareness and understanding of First Nations Culture.

Belonging by Kalara Gilbert (2024)

This is how she has described the meaning of this artwork:

This piece is about a sense of Belonging to the Canberra region. The mountain range painted in front is Black Mountain, with the Brindabella Mountain ranges behind. The patterns painted on Black Mountain represent the Molonglo River, the lake, and the different families and communities living on either side of it (North and South Canberra). The patterns on the Mountains behind represent all First Nations Peoples who come from all across Australia to live and work here and how they connect. The patterns in the sky are about connecting in and reminding us that Country is always helping us to find that belonging. Maliyan the protector flies high in the sky, and magpie, blue wren, and blue tongued lizard are also present as they are very prominent animals here, as well as the wattle, gum blossoms, and blue bell. It is painted in yellow tones as Canberra is basked in a golden light in the summer evenings and the Country turns yellow when the grass dries off and the seasons begin to change.

The ethical aspects of this research have been approved by the AIATSIS HREC (REC-0431) and the ANU HREC (H/2025/0262).