MrJoshua Waters

Joshua Waters is a Gamilaraay PhD Candidate and Senior Research Fellow in the School for Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University. His work explores the role of Indigenous knowledge systems in reshaping higher education, research ethics, and institutional practice, with a particular focus on relational ethics, spiritual integrity, and the limits of secular governance frameworks.

Working across Indigenous studies, decolonial theory, sociology of religion, and institutional ethics, Joshua develops conceptual and applied frameworks that address how Indigenous knowledge is engaged, regulated, and often constrained within contemporary academic systems. His research advances new approaches to cultural and spiritual safety, particularly in the context of Indigenous research methodologies and ethics processes.

He has authored several influential Indigenous-led think pieces and methodological contributions, including An Indigenous Process Method (IPM) for Conducting the Literature Review, Beyond the Glass Cabinet: Moving Indigenous Knowledge from Static Artefact to Dynamic Process in Australian Universities, and Spirit in the System: Secular Load and the Importance of Spiritual and Cultural Safety in Indigenous Research Ethics. Together, this body of work positions Indigenous knowledge not as content to be included, but as a dynamic system of thought capable of informing institutional transformation.

Joshua is a core member of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Lab at Deakin University, founded by Tyson Yunkaporta, and serves as a Director of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Collective (IKSC). Through these roles, he contributes to regional, national, and international partnerships that apply Indigenous systems knowledge, relational governance, and complexity thinking to contemporary challenges across research, policy, and practice.