THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS GENOMICS STATUTE 2021
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
1. Authority for making the instrument: Australian National University Act 1991, s50
2. Purpose and operation of the instrument: The University holds, in the John Curtin School of Medical Research, a collection of biological samples that were obtained from Indigenous people for scientific research from the 1960s until the early 1990s. The collection includes documents and data relating to the samples. In recognition of the collection’s immense cultural, historical and scientific importance, the University is committed to ensuring:
a) that the collection is held and added to under appropriate Indigenous custodianship; and
b) that there is proper engagement with Indigenous people and communities from which the samples and records were collected about any use of the collection for research; and
c) that appropriate consents are obtained for any research using material in the collection.
The Council’s purpose in making this instrument is to establish an appropriate framework to ensure Indigenous governance of, and the application of best practice for, the conduct of any research using material in the collection.
3. Documents incorporated in the instrument by reference: None
4. Consultation process for this updated Statute: December 2020 the Board of the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG) unanimously endorsed the proposal to amend the NCIG Statute 2016 to increase the size of the Board from nine members to ten members. The Council of the University considered and approved the Statute at its meeting on 11 February 2021.
Corporate Governance and Risk Office
1 March 2021