Interrogating Institutional responses to Black Deaths in Custody in Queensland (PhD scholarship)

Applications close

30 April 2026

• You'll receive a stipend of $51,010 per annum for a maximum duration of 3.5 years while undertaking a QUT PhD. The duration includes an extension of up to 6 months if approved for your candidature. This is the full-time, tax-exempt rate which will index annually.
• You will receive a tuition fee offset/sponsorship, covering the cost of your tuition fees for the first 4 full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies.
• As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.

• You need to meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy , including any English language requirements.
• Enrol as a full time, internal student (unless approval for part-time and/or external study is obtained).
• Hold a strong academic record, typically demonstrated with one of the following:
  • a first-class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline
  • a master’s degree with a significant research component
  • evidence of equivalent research experience and capability.
• Have a background in one or more of the following areas:
  • Indigenous studies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies or First Nations studies
  • Law, criminology or justice studies
  • Public health, social work or community development
  • Sociology, anthropology or related social sciences.
• Demonstrate a strong interest in, and commitment to, research addressing structural and institutional responses to Aboriginal deaths in custody, including engagement with issues of systemic racism, state accountability, and social justice.
• Demonstrate the capacity to undertake ethically grounded, culturally safe, and Indigenous-informed research, particularly when working with sensitive topics involving grief, trauma, and family experiences.
• For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants, lived experience, community connection, and/or demonstrated commitment to Indigenous-led research and advocacy are highly valued.

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to a QUT Doctor of Philosophy .

• The first step is to email Dr Raylene Nixon , detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
• If supported to apply, you will then submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) following the advice at How to apply for a research degree .
• In your EOI, nominate Dr Raylene Nixon as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question 2 of the financial details section.

This PhD scholarship is being offered as part of Dr Raylene Nixon’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) project, Interrogating Institutional Responsesto Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in Queensland. The project examines how state institutions, particularly coronial systems construct, manage, and respond to Aboriginal deaths in custody, with a specific focus on the experiences of families navigating coronial inquests.

The research is grounded in Indigenous sovereignty, anti-colonial, and anti-racist frameworks, and is committed to exposing and challenging the systemic and institutional conditions that underpin deaths in custody. It critically examines how legal, medical, and bureaucratic processes often frame these deaths as inevitable or individualised events, rather than as outcomes of state action and structural inequality. The project seeks to shift dominant narratives by foregrounding the voices, experiences, and truths of families.

Central to this project is the recognition of families as knowledge holders and witnesses, whose testimonies are often marginalised or constrained within formal legal processes. The research engages with the coronial inquest not only as a legal mechanism, but as a site where power, narrative, and accountability are contested. It explores how these processes can reproduce harm, silence Indigenous perspectives, and actively limit the possibilities for justice, while also identifying pathways for structural reform and alternative, community-led approaches to truth-telling and accountability.

This project contributes to disrupting deficit and dehumanising representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by developing Indigenous led, ethically grounded research practices that centre lived experience, relational accountability, and cultural safety. It aims to generate new knowledge that informs policy, practice, and advocacy, while supporting broader movements for justice and systemic change.

Projects may include, but are not limited to:

• The experiences of Aboriginal families engaging with coronial inquests into deaths in custody.
• The role of coronial systems in shaping narratives of death, responsibility, and accountability.
• Institutional racism and structural violence within legal, health, and custodial systems.
• Trauma-informed and culturally safe approaches to working with families affected by deaths in custody.
• The impact of coronial findings on families, communities, and policy reform.
• Indigenous-led approaches to truth-telling, justice, and accountability beyond the coronial system.
• The intersection of policing, healthcare, and custody in Aboriginal deaths.
• Policy and legal reform relating to deaths in custody in Queensland and nationally

The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr Raylene Nixon and will be embedded within QUT’s internationally renowned Carumba Institute, working alongside leading Indigenous scholars and researchers. The candidate will have opportunities to engage in a strong Indigenous research community committed to social justice, community impact, and transformative change.