Overview
Background
Richard is a cultural anthropologist in the School of Social Science at UQ. His research focuses on Indigenous land rights and native title, cultural heritage, Australian anthropology, and Australian history and culture.
Richard has a PhD in social and cultural studies from The University of Western Australia. His PhD research examined relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the remote Gulf Country of northern Australia, where he began fieldwork in 2007. After completing his PhD in 2012, Richard has continued to work in the Gulf Country on a range of academic and applied research projects, continuing to develop friendships and collaborations with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people across this area.
Since joining UQ in 2012, Richard has published a range of scholarly articles in leading academic journals as well as the book, The Gulf Country: The story of people and place in outback Queensland (Allen & Unwin, 2019). He has also carried out extensive applied research with Indigenous people on native title claims and cultural heritage matters across Australia, and given expert evidence in the Federal Court of Australia.
Availability
- Dr Richard Martin is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Education, University of New South Wales
- Bachelor of Arts, University of New South Wales
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Western Australia
Research interests
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Australian anthropology
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Indigenous culture and heritage
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Cultural loss and compensation
Research impacts
Richard's applied anthropological research has had a significant impact beyond academia. This work has involved participation as an expert researcher on multiple native title claims, where his research has contributed towards the successful resolution of legal proceedings relating to Indigenous rights and interests in land and waters, including in the Kurtjar people's native title claim (Rainbow on behalf of the Kurtjar People v State of Queensland (No 2) [2021] FCA 1251) in the Gulf Country, the Western Kangoulu people's native title claim in Central Queensland (Malone on behalf of the Western Kangoulu People v State of Queensland (No 6) [2025] FCA 363) and elsewhere. His work on Indigenous cultural heritage management has further contributed towards the successful protection of significant sites and areas in the context of resource extraction, economic development, and environmental restoration projects.
Works
Search Professor Richard Martin’s works on UQ eSpace
2017
Other Outputs
Supplementary Report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Native Title Claim
Martin, Richard J. (2017). Supplementary Report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Native Title Claim.
2016
Journal Article
Place, indigeneity, and identity in Australia’s Gulf Country
Trigger, David and Martin, Richard J. (2016). Place, indigeneity, and identity in Australia’s Gulf Country. American Anthropologist, 118 (4), 824-837. doi: 10.1111/aman.12681
2016
Journal Article
Richard Martin reviews 'Native title from Mabo to Akiba: a vehicle for change and empowerment?' edited by Sean Brennan et al.
Martin, Richard (2016). Richard Martin reviews 'Native title from Mabo to Akiba: a vehicle for change and empowerment?' edited by Sean Brennan et al.. Australian Book Review (383), 72-72.
2016
Other Outputs
Cultural Heritage Survey Report for Burke Shire Council’s Proposed Activities in the Gregory Area, northwest Queensland
Martin, Richard J. (2016). Cultural Heritage Survey Report for Burke Shire Council’s Proposed Activities in the Gregory Area, northwest Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: UQ Culture and Heritage Unit.
2016
Book Chapter
‘Nothing never change’: mapping land, water and Aboriginal identity in the changing environments of northern Australia’s Gulf Country
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2016). ‘Nothing never change’: mapping land, water and Aboriginal identity in the changing environments of northern Australia’s Gulf Country. Other people's country: law, water and entitlement in settler colonial sites. (pp. 1-18) edited by Timothy Neale and Stephen Turner. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2016
Book Chapter
Cultural domains and the theory of customary environmentalism in Indigenous Australia
de Rijke, Kim, Martin, Richard and Trigger, David (2016). Cultural domains and the theory of customary environmentalism in Indigenous Australia. Engaging Indigenous Economy: Debating Diverse Approaches. (pp. 43-53) edited by Will Sanders. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/caepr35.04.2016.04
2016
Book Chapter
Conservation, commodification and Indigenous heritage in Queensland
Martin, Richard J., Sneddon, Andrew and Trigger, David (2016). Conservation, commodification and Indigenous heritage in Queensland. The right to protect sites: Indigenous heritage management in the era of native title. (pp. 137-158) edited by Pamela Faye McGrath. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
2016
Book Chapter
Intimacies with country, environmentalism and intercultural relations in Northern Australia's Gulf Country
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2016). Intimacies with country, environmentalism and intercultural relations in Northern Australia's Gulf Country. Unstable relations: indigenous people and environmentalism in contemporary Australia. (pp. 92-121) edited by Eve Vincent and Timothy Neale. Perth, WA, Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
2015
Journal Article
Negotiating belonging: plants, people and indigeneity in northern Australia
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David S. (2015). Negotiating belonging: plants, people and indigeneity in northern Australia. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 21 (2), 276-295. doi: 10.1111/1467-9655.12206
2015
Journal Article
Reconfiguring indigeneity in the mainland Gulf country: mimicry, mimesis and the colonial exchange of difference
Martin, Richard J. (2015). Reconfiguring indigeneity in the mainland Gulf country: mimicry, mimesis and the colonial exchange of difference. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 26 (1), 55-73. doi: 10.1111/taja.12124
2015
Journal Article
'Nothing never change': mapping land, water and Aboriginal identity in the changing environments of northern Australia's Gulf Country
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2015). 'Nothing never change': mapping land, water and Aboriginal identity in the changing environments of northern Australia's Gulf Country. Settler Colonial Studies, 5 (3), 317-333. doi: 10.1080/2201473X.2014.1000906
2015
Journal Article
Dichotomous identities? Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and the intercultural in Australia
Dalley, Cameo and Martin, Richard J. (2015). Dichotomous identities? Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and the intercultural in Australia. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 26 (1), 1-23. doi: 10.1111/taja.12120
2015
Other Outputs
Anthropological Connection Report on Gkuthaarn and Kukatj People and Countries
Martin, Richard J. (2015). Anthropological Connection Report on Gkuthaarn and Kukatj People and Countries. Brisbane, Australia:
2015
Journal Article
Returns: becoming indigenous in the twenty-first century, by James Clifford
Martin, Richard (2015). Returns: becoming indigenous in the twenty-first century, by James Clifford. Anthropological Forum, 25 (2), 201-202. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2014.960142
2015
Journal Article
Imagining landscapes: past, present and future
Martin, Richard J. (2015). Imagining landscapes: past, present and future. Anthropological Forum, 25 (1), 102-104. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2013.805476
2014
Journal Article
National days and the politics of Indigenous and local identities in Australia and New Zealand
Martin, Richard J. (2014). National days and the politics of Indigenous and local identities in Australia and New Zealand. American Ethnologist, 41 (2), 390-391. doi: 10.1111/amet.12082_6
2014
Journal Article
Aboriginal political agency - Protests, land rights and riots: postcolonial struggles in Australia in the 1980s, by Barry Morris
Martin, Richard J. (2014). Aboriginal political agency - Protests, land rights and riots: postcolonial struggles in Australia in the 1980s, by Barry Morris. ABR, 361, 52-53.
2014
Book Chapter
'Reading' the Leichhardt, Landsborough and Gregory explorer trees of Northern Australia
Martin, Richard J. (2014). 'Reading' the Leichhardt, Landsborough and Gregory explorer trees of Northern Australia. History, power, text: cultural studies and Indigenous studies. (pp. 523-543) edited by Timothy Neale, Crystal McKinnon and Eve Vincent. Sydney, NSW, Australia: UTS ePress.
2014
Journal Article
The politics of indigeneity, identity and representation in literature from north Australia's Gulf Country
Martin, Richard J., Mead, Philip and Trigger, David (2014). The politics of indigeneity, identity and representation in literature from north Australia's Gulf Country. Social Identities, 20 (4-5), 330-345. doi: 10.1080/13504630.2014.997201
2013
Journal Article
Book review of Desert lake: art, science and stories from Paruku by Steve Morton, Mandy Martin, Kim Mahood and John Carty
Martin, Richard (2013). Book review of Desert lake: art, science and stories from Paruku by Steve Morton, Mandy Martin, Kim Mahood and John Carty. Historical Records of Australian Science, 342-343. doi: 10.1071/HR13005
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Richard Martin is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Compensation for harm to culture and cultural loss
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter
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Master Philosophy
Aboriginal Christianity at Yarrabah
Principal Advisor
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Master Philosophy
Understandings of Heritage and Climate Change in Indigenous Southeast Queensland Adaptation Initiatives
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Mr Jim Walker
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The Making of Intangible Heritage in Chinese Ethnic Minorities: An Ethnographic Study on Intangible Cultural Heritage, Power, Identity and Social Changes in Bulang Ethnic Group
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lisa Ruhanen, Emeritus Professor Ian Lilley
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Out there, back then: chronotopes of presence and absence in Outback Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Cultural Reproduction, Loss and Limitations of Indigenous Traditions of Social Resilience in Rural Fiji.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence, Dr Kim de Rijke
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Liquid Heritage: The Birth and Evolution of Tulou Society
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Ian Lilley, Dr Kim de Rijke
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Including the contemporary human footprint in environmentally protected areas in post-apartheid South Africa: Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
A political ecology study of forest wilderness in the Olympic Peninsula (USA) and Tasmania (Australia).
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor David Trigger, Emeritus Professor Ian Lilley
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2019
Master Philosophy
Culture as a commodity? The cultural dynamics of Indigenous tourism in the Far North East of Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor David Trigger
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Richard Martin directly for media enquiries about:
- Aboriginal Australia
- anthropology
- cultural heritage
- Native title
- native title compensation
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