Dr Amanda Porter, University of Technology, Sydney
Larry Saha Room (HA2175), Haydon Allen Building, #22 The Australian National University

Abstract: This presentation draws on the findings of my PhD research conducted over the past four years on the everyday operation and politics of Aboriginal night patrols in NSW.  The study involved directly observing patrol activities over a prolonged period as well as conducting interviews with patrol workers, community members, Elders and bureaucrats.  In this paper, Aboriginal patrols are used as a lens through which to critically examine contemporary issues in the policing of Indigenous Australian communities and, more broadly, as a way of exploring some of the complexities involved in decolonizing the institutions and activities of 'policing'.  The findings of this research demonstrate not only the complexity of processes of decolonisation but raise broader questions about the ways in which knowledge is produced about Aboriginal communities, both by governments and within academia.

Bio: AmandaPorter is an early career researcher of Yuin descent at Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, the University of Technology Sydney.  She graduated with a PhD from Sydney Law School in 2014 and has held visiting fellowships at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Gipuzkoa, Spain) and Harvard Law School (Boston, USA).  Her research interests include alternative policing, juvenile justice, deaths in custody and Indigenous justice issues.

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