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Monica Clare Research Fellowship
About the Fellowship
Awarded annually to people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander to research, explore and create new knowledge about Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures using the John Oxley Library and State Library collections and resources.
The fellowship recipient receives a stipend of $20,000, a personal work space within the Neil Roberts Research Lounge for 12 months and premium access to State Library’s extensive collections and library staff expertise.
State Library’s Content Strategy details our approach and commitment to providing greater access and use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections. Research projects undertaken as part of the Monica Clare Research Fellowship align with the principles and values outlined in this document.
The fellowship is named after Monica Clare, a political activist and author, Ms Clare was the first Indigenous woman to have a novel published. Her novel “Karobran” (meaning ‘together’) was published in 1978, five years after her death.
The Monica Clare Research Fellowship is generously supported by the Siganto Foundation.
2026 Monica Clare Research Fellow
The 2026 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Dr Rose Barrowcliffe for her project, 'The Protectors'.
This project examines a 1924–1925 Queensland State Archives correspondence in which the Chief Protector of Aborigines and other Protectors sought lists of Aboriginal placenames. Many Protectors claimed there were none or that local Aboriginal people “know nothing of the language.”
Using John Oxley Library records and interviews with Aboriginal descendants, the project challenges these claims, revealing the comprehensive nature of the protectorate system and countering the deficit narratives. The story will be shared through a podcast series and a supplementary website.
2026 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Dr Rose Barrowcliffe with fellowship donor, Dr Jodie Siganto, the Siganto Foundation.
2025 Monica Clare Research Fellow
The 2025 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Narelle Nicol for her project, 'Lugger Bort' an ambitious social history research, dedicated to the working life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the pearling, Bech-de-Mer and trochus industries, in northern Queensland.
Lugger Bort aims to uncover the rich, untold stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers who dedicated their lives to the pearling, Beche-de-Mer, and trochus industries in northern Queensland. For over a century, generations of these workers made vital contributions to the region's economic, social, and cultural landscape. However, despite their hard labour, they faced harsh exploitation through unregulated practices and restrictive government policies.
This era was instrumental in shaping Queensland. During its early years, the Torres Strait became the world’s largest supplier of pearl shell, capable of influencing global markets. Yet, little of this prosperity reached First Nations communities. Despite these injustices, the legacy of these industries is embedded in the identity and culture of families and communities across Queensland, celebrated in stories, artwork, songs, and dances that keep this history alive today.
Blog:
Nerelle Nicol, the 2025 Monica Clare Research Fellow with fellowship donors, William and Louise Siganto, the Siganto Foundation.
Monica Clare Research Fellows Blogs
Past Monica Clare Fellows
The 2024 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Sheridan Teitzel for her project, Sacred plants and cultural frameworks: Capturing first nations value systems in western Cape York.
Indigenous healing systems diverged significantly from conventional Western medical perspectives. Sheridan's project aimed to capture and conceptualise the intricate system of plant medicine within a First Nations context.
Blogs:
2024 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Sheridan Teitzel with sponsor Bill Siganto representing The Siganto Foundation.
Research Reveals 2025 - Sacred plants and cultural frameworks: Capturing first nations value systems in western Cape York.
The 2022 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Dr Max Brierty for his project, Mipa Mipumani: The Colonisation of Kullilli Country in South-West Queensland.
Max's project told the story of the colonisation of Kullilli Country through an analytical and conceptual style, underpinned by truth-telling, traditional and contemporary Indigenous philosophy, and his own standpoint as a Kullilli man and member of the Kullilli diaspora.
Blogs:
2022 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Dr Max Brierty discusses his research project, Mipa Mipumani: The Colonisation of Kullilli Country in South-West Queensland.
2022 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Dr Max Brierty discusses his research project, Mipa Mipumani: The Colonisation of Kullilli Country in South-West Queensland.
The 2021 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Rachel West-Captain for her project - A Murruwarri Family of South West Queensland and North West New South Wales - The 'West & Captain' Family - Aboriginal History Research.
Rachel explains her project:
"I believe a purpose in my life is to preserve and tell my Aboriginal family history. The West and Captain Family of Goodooga, A Murruwarri family from South West Qld, North West NSW. My Grandmother Joan Margaret West’s painful story, having her entire family of 12 children stolen from her. Suffering crippling and debilitating control at the hands of Government.
This began shortly after my Great Grandfather Bindi West, and my Great Grandmother Terrisa Captain passed on, in 1964. They died within 3 days of each other, aged in their 70’s.
I found my Aboriginal family in 2016, aged 31. (I was adopted).
All I ever wanted was to draw my family tree. My Real Family.
It’s a big one and I can’t wait to share it with you. I hope I can help many other families with my extensive research, which stretches over 5 years; another 5 to go. My book will be published in 2025."
Blogs:
2021 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Rachel West-Captain.
Research Reveals. A Murruwarri Family of South-West Queensland and North-West New South Wales: the West and Captain family.
The 2020 Monica Clare Research Fellowship was awarded to Dr Fiona Foley for her projects:
- Bogimbah Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment
- The Magna Carta Tree.
There are few historical records or photographic archives pertaining to the 52 Badtjala people taken from Maryborough to K’gari (Fraser Island) by Archibald Meston. This group of people taken and relocated under The Aboriginals Protection and the Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897 formed the basis of the first experiment.
Dr Foley's project focused on two outcomes during her Fellowship - a publication of essays and documentary photographs on site during the process of making my new photographic series titled, The Magna Carta Tree. The publication will have the title, Bogimbah Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment.
In the words of Raymond Evans he sums up the lack of research in this area when he writes, “in attempting to investigate the Bogimbah Creek Reserve on Fraser Island and the Aboriginal ‘inmates’ relocated, one is immediately struck by the almost total silence of Australian historians on this significant segregative experiment.” There is a need to bring this hidden history to the fore whether it is a publication or photographs. The Badtjala people are missing from this Queensland narrative.
Badtjala is also spelt Butchulla.
Blogs:
- Dr Fiona Foley - Monica Clare Research Fellow
- Bogimbah Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment. New publication by Dr Fiona Foley
Book:
- Bogimbah Creek Mission: the First Aboriginal Experiment - This book was published by Fiona Foley from research conducted as part of her Monica Clare Research Fellowship. The book can be purchased from the Library Shop.
Dr Fiona Foley, 2020 Monica Clare Research Fellow.
Research Reveals: Bogimbah Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment: book launch by Fiona Foley.
Photographs from Fiona's Research Reveals event and book launch can be found on State Library's Flickr corporate account.
2020 Monica Clare Research Fellow, Dr Fiona Foley shares insights into her research project and her experience as a fellow at State Library.