Indigenising the Built Environment survey launches

An online survey investigating the efficacy of the First Nations-focused performance criteria outlined in the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia's 2021 National Standard of Competency for Architects has been launched.

The online survey is part of a research project currently being conducted by Dr Michael Mossman and Professor Donald McNeill, titled Indigenising the Built Environment in Australia. The research project was awarded $1.4 million in Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous funding in October 2023.

The objective of the research is to examine the 2021 National Standard of Competency for Architects, which serves as the national guideline for performance criteria applicable to architecture schools and practitioners in Australia. The research will concentrate solely on the performance criteria related to Country and First Nations Communities and Cultures (FNPC).

The questionnaire is the first of two online surveys, accompanied by two rounds of yarning workshops scheduled for 2025 and 2026. The research project will then wrap up with a symposium that reveals the findings in June 2027.

For Mossman, this first survey exercise will be an opportunity to gauge broader understandings of architecture and built environment roles and relationships with Country and First Nations Communities and Cultures.

"This is an invitation for community, universities, industry and government agencies in architecture and allied disciplines to learn what architects are presenting in built environment learning and practices relative to Country," said Mossman.

"It is critical to unpack the challenges industry is currently facing, along with the opportunities and aspirations that are driving curriculum and practice into the future."

The first online survey will close in mid-March 2025. To complete the survey, visit here.