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The Indigenous Data Commons

The Indigenous Data Commons is a digital initiative of the Indigenous Data Network (IDN). It serves as a comprehensive online platform designed to support and empower Indigenous data custodians and stewards.

What is Indigenous Data?

Indigenous data encompasses a broad and evolving category of information that reflects the lived experiences, knowledge systems, and governance priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Indigenous Data Network (IDN) defines Indigenous data as:

Data generated, intentionally or not, by, about, or for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous data refers to information, in any format or medium, collected, analysed, stored, and interpreted within the context of Indigenous individuals, collectives, populations, entities, lifeways, cultures, knowledge systems, lands, biodiversity, water and other resources. It includes data collected, used, or stored by any agency, department, laboratory, organisation, corporation, statutory body, university or research institute, conducted by, with, and about Indigenous people or people, and data that Indigenous communities have generated and maintained themselves. (Indigenous Data Network, 2024)

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The Indigenous Data Network acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and live. We pay respect to their Elders, past and present, and the place of Indigenous Knowledge in the academy and beyond. We acknowledge and respect that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have always used resources from the land and waters for nourishment, medicine and healing.
© Indigenous Data Network 2025