Richard Martin

Richard Martin is an Associate Professor and Director of Indigenous Engagement in the School of Social Science within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland. He is a cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on Indigenous land rights and native title, cultural heritage, Australian anthropology, and Australian history and culture. Martin holds a Doctor of Philosophy in social and cultural studies from the University of Western Australia, completed in 2012, along with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from the University of New South Wales. His doctoral research examined relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the remote Gulf Country of northern Australia, where he commenced fieldwork in 2007. Since joining the University of Queensland in 2012, he has continued extensive academic and applied research projects in the Gulf Country and beyond, fostering collaborations with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Martin has published a range of scholarly works in leading journals and books, including his monograph The Gulf Country: The story of people and place in outback Queensland (Allen & Unwin, 2019). Notable journal articles include 'Cultural loss and compensation in the anthropology of Aboriginal Australia' in American Ethnologist (2023), 'Compensation for cultural loss in Indigenous Australia' in Anthropology Today (2024), 'Rethinking Indigenous entrepreneurship' in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (2025, co-authored with Zannie Langford), and 'Frontier narratives that take on flesh: tracing legacy, labour, and legitimacy in Outback Queensland, Australia' in Oceania (2024, co-authored with Alana Brekelmans). He has contributed book chapters on topics such as intercultural relations, Indigenous heritage management, environmentalism, and truth-telling on pastoral frontiers, appearing in volumes from publishers including Routledge, ANU Press, and University of Western Australia Press. Martin has undertaken applied research supporting Indigenous native title claims and cultural heritage matters across Australia, providing expert evidence in the Federal Court of Australia. He received the 2024 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award and serves as co-Director of the Centre for Native Title Anthropology.