Indigenous Futures Conference 2025 - ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures

Indigenous futures unbound: Reimagining Indigenous futures through knowledge and praxis

Kabi Kabi Country
Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort

November 4th – 7th, 2025

Conference theme

In the second decade of the 21st century we have witnessed in western liberal democracies the re-emergence of extreme conservative politics in economies built on the spoils of colonialism, where inequality has flourished and the gap between rich and poor has widened. This shift includes the successful US Presidential election’s platform to ‘make America great again’, the ousting of the French Prime Minister over a technocratic budget, and the collapse of the German coalition government due to economic discord. The rise of authoritarianism and anti-incumbent politics in western liberal democracies has been enabled by the affluent.

In unsettler states, this form of politics reflects the legacy of colonialism in the very structure of governance as evidenced in the conservative and affluent-led mis-information campaign against the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum in Australia, and the Treaty Principles’ Bill in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Both these examples represent reductions in the rule of law, a decrease in the separation of powers, the dilution of emancipatory rights as well as weakening Indigenous treaty agreements, containing Indigenous self-determination, and silencing Indigenous voices.

Despite the present global political context, Indigenous communities are striving to protect the earth and look ahead to the future carrying the strength of our past into the present and beyond. Recognizing that thousands of Indigenous cultures understand time as a circular concept, Indigenous epistemologies potentiate and envision Indigenous futures of what-could-and-should-be.

Keynote speakers

Professor Audra Simpson is a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk scholar and researches and writes about Indigenous and settler society, politics and history at Columbia University.

Her book, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States (2014, DUP) won the Sharon Stephens Prize (AES), the “Best first Book Award” (NAISA) as well as the Lora Romero Award (ASA) in addition to honorable mentions.

Professor Rauna Kuokkanen is a researcher in Arctic Indigenous Politics at the University of Lapland (Finland) and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

She researches comparative Indigenous politics and law, Indigenous feminism and gender, Arctic governance, and settler colonialism in the Nordic countries.

Her Sámi name is Jovnna Jon Anne Kirstte Rávdná or Fierranjot Kirstte Rávdná. She’s from the Deatnu River, Ohcejohka/Utsjoki.

Distinguished Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson is a Goenpul woman of the Quandamooka people (Moreton Bay). She is a leading scholar in the field of Critical Indigenous Studies covering areas such as Indigenous Sovereignty, Law, Gender, Race and Power.

She is Australia’s first Indigenous Distinguished Professor. Professor Moreton-Robinson’s numerous publications have international standing and global reach. She is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow Australian Academy of the Social Sciences, and a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Moreton-Robinson is a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Council. She was formerly the Director of the Australian Research Council’s National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) and President Elect of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA).

Professor Brendan Hokowhitu is globally recognised as a leading scholar in critical Indigenous studies, creating the sub-disciplines of Indigenous masculinities, Indigenous sociology of sport, and Indigenous critical physical education. He is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.

Brendan’s diverse disciplinary background has led him to becoming a thought leader in multiple areas where his theoretical work has advanced Indigenous film and media, Indigenous healthism, and Indigenous critical theory. His tiwi (tribe) is Ngāti Pūkenga.

More keynote speakers will be announced each week

This conference is a call-to-action.

We ask:

How can we protect the earth, our human kin, and our non-human relatives for the future?
What can our Indigenous futures look like?
How can we future proof our nations? and
What will being Indigenous mean in the future?

In good relations, this conference provides an intellectual space for scholars, researchers, policymakers, elders, and Indigenous community members to challenge, discuss and contemplate our resolve to flourish, to exist as peoples who live in their sovereignty, as culturally strong, healthy, political, and economically sustainable nations.

Tackling Indigenous intergenerational inequity is complex, requiring transdisciplinary, Indigenous-led research for Indigenous thrivance. Therefore, conference presenters are asked to:

Centre Indigenous people, our theories, knowledges, and ways of knowing through research that is transforming and relational.
Inspire participants with discussion to activate research-led transforming praxis to futureproof Indigenous nations.
Embody Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty, knowledge and ways of being and doing.
Advance theoretical, conceptual and practical understandings of Indigenous Thrivance.
Resist the silencing of Indigenous voices and Reimagine Indigenous Futures.

Abstracts are invited for the following presentation options:

Individual presentations – 25 minutes plus 5 minutes of questions and change over
Panel presentations 90 minutes (maximum of 4 speakers with 20 minutes to 30 minutes each)
Interactive workshops – 60 minutes (for example, traditional healing, yarning circles, creative practice, film, song, dance)

Registration

Community Member	$150
HDR Student	$150
Early Career Researchers	Early Bird - $495 (to 15 August) Regular - $ 595 (to 30 September) Late Bird - $695
Full Registration	Early Bird - $795 (to 15 August) Regular - $895 (to 30 September) Late Bird - $995

Prices include GST, General registration includes full daily catering as well as Welcome Event, BBQ and Gala Dinner.

For conference enquiries please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registrations are currently at capacity.

Indigenous Travel Support Grant

The IFC is offering a number of travel support grants to contribute to the costs associated with attending and travelling to the Indigenous Futures International Conference on Kabi Kabi Country (Sunshine Coast, QLD) from 4 - 7 November.

APPLICATIONS CLOSED