Richard is a socio-cultural anthropologist in the School of Social Science at UQ. His research focuses on the politics of land, identity, indigeneity, and development in Australia.
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 in this area.
Since joining UQ as a Research Fellow in 2012, Richard has published a range of scholarly articles in leading academic journals, and co-edited a Special Issue of The Australian Journal of Anthropology. He has also carried out extensive research with Indigenous people on native title claims and cultural heritage matters around the Gulf.
Richard's applied anthropological research has had a significant impact beyond academia. His work has involved participation as an expert researcher on multiple native title claims around the Gulf Country, where his research has contributed towards the successful resolution of legal proceedings relating to Indigenous rights and interests in land and waters. His work on Indigenous cultural heritage matters in the same region has further contributed towards the successful protection of significant sites and areas in the context of economic development, resource extraction, and environmental restoration projects.
Richard has also undertaken applied research into the Indigenous and non-Indigenous history of Gulf Country, and been active in broadly disseminating the results of such work throughout the region.
Indirectly, his published research, including academic book reviews and critiques, has contributed towards public debate about remote livelihoods and futures in Australia.
Book: The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland
Martin, Richard J. (2019). The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland. Crows Nest, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
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
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
Testing the Dark Emu hypothesis
(2022–2025) ARC Discovery Projects
Macleay Valley Cultural tourism and education initiative
(2022) UQ Indigenous Research Engagement and Partnerships Fund
The Queensland Atlas of Religion
(2019–2023) ARC Linkage Projects
Understandings of Heritage and Climate Change in Indigenous Southeast Queensland Adaptation Initiatives
Master Philosophy
(2023) Doctor Philosophy
Aboriginal Christianity at Yarrabah
Master Philosophy
The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland
Martin, Richard J. (2019). The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland. Crows Nest, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
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
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
Aird, Michael, Gorringe, Shawnee, Andrews, Ian, Griffiths, Tom, Fairbairn, Andrew, Habgood, Phillip, Franklin, Natalie, Hough, Tracey, Ginn, Geoff, Hiscock, Peter, Gorringe, Joshua, Kerkhove, Ray, Martin, Richard, Keenan-Jones, Duncan, Silcock, Jen, Lowe, Kelsey M., Westaway, Michael C., Louys, Julien, Willcock, Jane, Manne, Tiina, Williams, Doug, Mapar, Mandana and Wright, Nathan (2022). Kirrenderri, heart of the Channel Country: a University of Queensland Anthropology Museum touring exhibition. Brisbane, QLD Australia: UQ Anthropology Museum.
The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland
Martin, Richard J. (2019). The Gulf Country: the story of people and place in outback Queensland. Crows Nest, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
'We are all still here': anthropological perspectives on cultural change
Martin, Richard and Ginn, Geoff (2022). 'We are all still here': anthropological perspectives on cultural change. Kirrenderri: heart of the Channel Country. (pp. 39-42) edited by Michael C. Westaway, Mandana Mapar, Tracey Hough, Shawnee Gorringe and Geoff Ginn. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum.
Power, Poison, and Hope in the Border Country
Martin, Richard J. (2020). Power, Poison, and Hope in the Border Country. Of Earth, For Earth: The meaning of a mine. (pp. 30-38) edited by Kathryn Moore and Dana Finch. Exeter, United Kingdom: University of Exeter Press.
Ethnographic collections, Indigenous narratives, and post-colonial rights in Australia
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2018). Ethnographic collections, Indigenous narratives, and post-colonial rights in Australia. The social work of narratives: human rights and the cultural imaginary. (pp. 103-120) edited by Gareth Griffiths and Philip Mead. Stuttgart, Germany: ibidem Press.
Chinese history, Indigenous identity and mixed ancestry in Australia's Gulf Country
Trigger, David and Martin, Richard (2017). Chinese history, Indigenous identity and mixed ancestry in Australia's Gulf Country. Mixed race identities in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 36-48) edited by Kirsten McGavin and Farida Fozdar. New York, NY United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315559391
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.
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
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.
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.
'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.
Cultural loss and compensation in the anthropology of Aboriginal Australia
Martin, Richard (2023). Cultural loss and compensation in the anthropology of Aboriginal Australia. American Ethnologist, 50 (4), 632-644. doi: 10.1111/amet.13223
Adams, Shaun, Collard, Mark, McGahan, David, Martin, Richard, Phillips, Susan and Westaway, Michael C. (2023). The impact of contact: isotope geochemistry sheds light on the lives of Indigenous Australians living on the colonial frontier in late 19th century Queensland. Archaeologies, 19 (2), 299-341. doi: 10.1007/s11759-023-09469-2
Boag, Courtney J., Martin, Richard J. and Bell, Damein (2020). An 'authentic' Aboriginal product: state marketing and the self-fashioning of Indigenous experiences to Chinese tourists. Australian Journal of Anthropology, 31 (1), 51-65. doi: 10.1111/taja.12345
Review of: The Colonial Fantasy: Why white Australia can't solve black problems by Sarah Maddison
Martin, Richard J. (2019). Review of: The Colonial Fantasy: Why white Australia can't solve black problems by Sarah Maddison. Australian Book Review (413).
Martin, Richard J. (2018). Richard J. Martin reviews '"Against Native Title": Conflict and Creativity in Outback Australia' by Eve Vincent and 'Crosscurrents: Law and society in a native title claim to land and sea' by Katie Glaskin. Australian Book Review (401)
Adams, Shaun, Martin, Richard, Phillips, Susan, Macgregor, Colin and Westaway, Michael (2018). Truth-telling in the wake of European contact: historical investigation of Aboriginal skeletal remains from Normanton. Archaeologies, 14 (3), 412-442. doi: 10.1007/s11759-018-9354-x
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
Sometime a fire: re-imagining elemental conflict in northern Australia's Gulf country
Martin, Richard J. (2013). Sometime a fire: re-imagining elemental conflict in northern Australia's Gulf country. Australian Humanities Review (55), 67-91.
The politics of the voice: ethnographic fetishism and Australian literary studies
Martin, Richard J. (2013). The politics of the voice: ethnographic fetishism and Australian literary studies. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 13 (2), 1-14.
'Reading' the Leichhardt, Landsborough and Gregory explorer trees of northern Australia
Martin, Richard J. (2013). 'Reading' the Leichhardt, Landsborough and Gregory explorer trees of northern Australia. Cultural Studies Review, 19 (2), 216-236. doi: 10.5130/csr.v19i2.2814
Martin, Richard J. (2013). Caring for country - People on country: vital landscapes, indigenous futures, edited by Jon Altman and Sean Kerins. ABR, 348, 48-49.
Martin, Richard J. (2011). Singing saltwater country: journey to the songlines of Carpentaria by John Bradley with Yanyuwa families. Aboriginal History, 35, 215-217.
Applied Anthropology and Indigenous Land Justice in Australia
Martin, Richard J. (2020). Applied Anthropology and Indigenous Land Justice in Australia. AY2019 International Workshop: Call and Response in Indigenous Research: Cases from Australia and Japan, Kyoto, Japan, 15 December 2019. Kyoto, Japan: Ryukoku University Press.
Isotope analysis helps tell the stories of Aboriginal people living under early colonial expansion
Adams, Shaun, McGahan, David, Collard, Mark, Westaway, Michael and Martin, Richard (2023, 05 01). Isotope analysis helps tell the stories of Aboriginal people living under early colonial expansion The Conversation
Martin, Richard J. (2017). Kurtjar Connection Report, Prepared for HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.
A History of the Burke Shire, 1865-2015. Prepared for the Burke Shire Council
Martin, Richard J. (2017). A History of the Burke Shire, 1865-2015. Prepared for the Burke Shire Council. Burke Shire Council.
Supplementary Report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Native Title Claim
Martin, Richard J. (2017). Supplementary Report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Native Title Claim.
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.
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:
Ganggalida eastern area report
Martin, Richard, Trigger, David and Maclean, Hilda (2013). Ganggalida eastern area report. UniQuest Project No: C00871 St Lucia, QLD, Australia: UQ Culture & Heritage Unit, UniQuest.
Anthropologist's Report Concerning Ganggalida and Garawa Water Places, Gulf of Carpentaria
Martin, Richard J. (2012). Anthropologist's Report Concerning Ganggalida and Garawa Water Places, Gulf of Carpentaria. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: UQ Culture and Heritage Unit.
Testing the Dark Emu hypothesis
(2022–2025) ARC Discovery Projects
Macleay Valley Cultural tourism and education initiative
(2022) UQ Indigenous Research Engagement and Partnerships Fund
The Queensland Atlas of Religion
(2019–2023) ARC Linkage Projects
(2019) UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
Post-Mine Audit at Waterfall General, Garrawarra Cemetery near Helensburgh, NSW
(2018) Metropolitan Colliery Pty Ltd
Supplementary report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Peoples' native title claim
(2018) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Gangalidda Native Title Connection Report
(2016–2018) HWL Ebsworth Lawyers
Supplementary Report for the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj Peoples' native title claim
(2016–2018) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Waanyi Cultural Materials Research Project
(2016–2018) Waanyi Native Title Aboriginal Corporation
Archival research on Gkuthaarn and Kukatj claim
(2016–2017) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Archival research on Kurtijar claim
(2016–2017) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Burke Shire Council Cultural History Project
(2015–2016) Burke Shire Council
Gangalidda Eastern Area Expert Native Title Report (2nd extension)
(2015–2016) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Gregory Township - Anthropological Survey
(2015–2016) Burke Shire Council
Indigenous identity, livelihood and futures in north Australia's Gulf Country
(2015) UQ Early Career Researcher
CLCAC: Normanton Native Title Claim Report
(2014–2019) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Cultural Heritage Survey - Gravel Pit Extensions
(2014) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Gangalidda Eastern Area Expert Native Title Report
(2014) UniQuest Pty Ltd
(2014) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Gangalidda Eastern Area Expert Native Title Report
(2012–2014) UniQuest Pty Ltd
CLCAC: Gulf Country Water Survey
(2012) UniQuest Pty Ltd
Understandings of Heritage and Climate Change in Indigenous Southeast Queensland Adaptation Initiatives
Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Aboriginal Christianity at Yarrabah
Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Climate Change in Rural Fiji: Reproduction, Erosion and Limitations of Social Resilience in Intercultural Domains
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Liquid Heritage: The Birth and Evolution of Tulou Society
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
(2023) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Out there, back then: chronotopes of presence and absence in Outback Australia
(2021) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
(2023) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
(2019) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
(2019) Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: