The International Initiative for Human Origins and Our Future will seek to decentre human origins research by integrating Indigenous, Global South and other international perspectives

Research into human origins has a long history, dating back to the first discoveries of ancient artefacts and the fossils of human ancestors, as well as the diverse peoples populating the earth. Yet much of the early research into human origins was rooted in colonial, racist and extractive perspectives that have shaped contemporary human origins research in unrecognised or unacknowledged ways.

The International Initiative for Human Origins and Our Future will seek to decentre human origins research by integrating Indigenous, Global South and other international perspectives into the study of human evolution. With well-developed legislation and practice surrounding cultural heritage, Indigenous rights to heritage, and the use and ownership of cultural knowledge, Australia leads the way globally in efforts to overcome colonial legacies of archaeological research.

Our species, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa approximately 300,000 years ago, ultimately spreading around the world in multiple waves, over the course of significant climatic and environmental fluctuations. Through integrated Indigenous and interdisciplinary scientific approaches, the International Initiative for Human Origins and Our Future will address the human story in new ways, shaping novel research questions, collaborative approaches, and understandings of the past. We will place an emphasis on integrating scientific excellence with practices of decolonisation, repatriation, and reconciliation, to transform our understanding of the human story, creating opportunities for a genuinely equitable and shared human origin story that helps to heal people and Country in Australia and beyond.

By combining cutting-edge science with new questions and models of the past, the International Initiative for Human Origins and Our Future will make fundamental discoveries about our environmental, biological, and cultural history, as well as our species’ resilience, adaptability, and vulnerability.  We will build the next generation of transdisciplinary leaders in natural and cultural heritage, contributing to contemporary and future policies in conservation and Indigenous heritage, and establishing Australia as a world leader in Human Origins research.