BArchStud, GradDip EnvStud, MEnvStud, PhD

Lecturer / Researcher

Wilto Yerlo
Centre for Australian Indigenous Research and Studies
The University of Adelaide

Elizabeth Grant BArch Stud, Grad Dip Env Stud, M Env Stud, PhD is a lecturer at Wilto Yerlo, the Centre for Australian Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Adelaide.  She also sessionally lectures at the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Adelaide and is a research scholar at the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre, the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture at the University of Queensland.

She is a researcher in the field of people-environments, with particular interests in examining the congruence or ‘fit’ between people’s behaviours and the design of physical environments. She is a member of the International Association for People-Environment Studies.

Elizabeth has wide consultancy experience in the Aboriginal arena, in both urban, rural and remote settings, ranging from consulting with communities to achieve outcomes in the built environment, to advocacy roles acting for Aboriginal communities.

Elizabeth Grant’s research interests include Aboriginal architecture and environments, court and criminal justice design and culturally sustainable design.

Elizabeth’s doctoral research is the first empirical study to examine the environmental needs and preferences of Aboriginal offenders. It was conducted to examine design mechanisms to reduce suicide and self-harming behaviours of Aboriginal peoples in custody.  During her research and examining architectural strategies to reduce deaths in custody in across Australia she has become very familiar with Australian prisons, spending many hours in each, interviewing prisoners, conducting surveys of the facilities, and in discussions with correctional management and staff.

In 2008, Dr Grant has been named as a Churchill Fellow. The fellowship will enable her to travel New Zealand, Canada and Denmark to look at a range of innovative measures for Indigenous prisoners. Elizabeth will spend time in New Zealand, examining facilities for Maori offenders, visit Canadian Healing Centres and travel to Europe to study the Scandinavian model of prison management.

PhD Research
Thesis Topic: Towards safer and more Congruent Prison Environments for Aboriginal Prisoners: A South Australian Study

Elizabeth's research looks at the preference and aspirations of Aboriginal prisoners for accommodation space in correctional facilities, focusing on the future design of living environments in prison. From this research, Elizabeth aims to identify and discuss issues in providing safe appropriate design suitable for Aboriginal prisoners. This research also involves attempts to reduce suicide and self-harm behaviours amongst incarcerated Aboriginal peoples.

Awards & Scholarships
2008 Churchill Fellowship
2005 Walter and Dorothy Duncan Trust Grant, the University of Adelaide
2004 Barbara Crase Bursary, Australian Federation of University Women
2003 Australian Postgraduate Award
2002 University of South Australia Scholarship
1999 Riddle Scholarship, the University of Adelaide
1997 Walter and Dorothy Duncan Trust Grant, the University of Adelaide
1981 Simon Meelor Scholarship for academic achievement

Recent Research Grants
2007 Equity and Diversity Funding, the University of Adelaide. Research Grant Project Title: An investigation of the factors influencing the success and retention of Indigenous students in the Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation Program at the University of Adelaide.

2005 Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Research Grant Project Title: The design of safe, suitable, culturally appropriate prison accommodation for incarcerated Aboriginal peoples.

2001 Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) Discretionary Grant (Dr. Samer Akkach, Gillian Walliss, Elizabeth Grant) Project Title: Indigenous cultural awareness education for design professionals.

Book Chapters & Refereed Articles
Grant E. (forthcoming) , ‘Softening’ the Aboriginal prison experience through architecture: emerging trends in restorative or ameliorative Aboriginal prison environments in Moore, G. & Lu, D. (Eds) People, Environment and Society, Springer.

Grant E. & P. Memmott (2007/08), ‘The Case for Single Cells and alternative ways of viewing Custodial Accommodation for Australian Aboriginal Peoples’, The Flinders Journal of Law Reform 10(3) 631 – 646.
http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2328/1836/4/Grant_and_Memmott%20jaa.pdf

Grant E. & P. Memmott (2007), Forty Years of Aboriginal Housing: Public and Community Housing in South Australia from 1967 to 2007. In Reflections 40 Years on from the 1967 Referendum Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement of South Australia, Adelaide: 79 - 98.

Grant E. (2006), Mobilong Independent Living Units: New Innovations in Australian Prison Architecture, Corrections Today 68 (3): 58 –61.
http://www.aca.org/fileupload/177/prasannak/grant_Web.pdf

Wallis, J. and Grant, E. (2000), Indigenous Education for Future Design Professionals Architectural Theory Review 2(11): 65-68 University of Sydney, Sydney.

Recent Articles
Grant E. (2008), Book Review ‘Gunyah, Goondie + Wurley: The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia’, Architecture Australia, January/February 2008.

Grant E. & P. Memmott (2007), ‘The Journey so far: Aboriginal Housing in South Australia’, Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 2 (7) 6 – 12.
Grant, E. (2006), The Blackster Solution; Transient Aboriginal Camps in Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 2(2): 6 – 11.
http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/39557/1/2006_PLACE_Transient_Camp_Final_Proof.pdf.

Grant E. (2005) Duplex Jail in Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 1 (4): 12 – 15.
http://www.placemagazine.com.au/files/archives_articles/Duplex_jail.pdf.

Conference Papers
Grant, E. (2006), ‘Softening’ the Aboriginal prison experience through architecture: emerging trends in restorative or ameliorative Aboriginal prison environments, 1st International Symposium on Environment, Behaviour and Society February 9-11, 2006, Sydney.

Grant, E. (2006), The right to ‘safe’ accommodation: rights and obligations to a standard for prison accommodation Conference Proceedings – 19th Annual Conference of the Australian & New Zealand Society of Criminologists, February 7-9 Hobart 2006.

Lavorie, C. & E. Grant (2005), Victoria Square/ Tarndanyangga: A Contested Space In Adelaide Australia. 46th Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, October 27-30, 2005 - Kansas City, Missouri.

Grant, E. (2003), Stemming the Flow: Designing Prisons – ‘Correctional Facilities’ for the Future, Conference Proceedings - National Indigenous Custody Conference, Adelaide 14th –15th October 2003, Adelaide.

Grant, E. (2002), Incorporating Indigenous Australia into Design Education Sharing the Space Conference Proceedings Flinders University Australian Studies Program and Yunggorendi First Nations Centre, Adelaide.

Walker, V. and E. Grant, (2000), A Piece of the Story – The process of accessing records from Catholic Organisations caring for Children separated from Families in Proceedings of the Second National Stolen Generations Conference September 2000, Adelaide.

Recent Commissioned Reports
Payne, P. & Grant, E. (2006), Scoping Study – Adelaide Gaol.  Report for the History Trust of South Australia, Adelaide.

Thesis
Grant, E. (2008), Towards Safer and more Congruent Prison Environments for Aboriginal Prisoners: A South Australian Study (PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, landscape Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Adelaide).

Grant, E. (1999), Aboriginal Housing In South Australia, An Overview of Housing at Oak Valley, Maralinga Tjarutja (Masters Thesis, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, The University of Adelaide)

Other Publications
Grant, E. and S. Cruse, (editors) 2002, Kokotinna Staff Development Program on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures and Health The Flinders University of South Australia
http://cal.fmc.flinders.edu.au/Kokotinna/INDEX.HTM

Grant, E. with S. Hutchins (2002), Language Protocols the Flinders University of South Australia http://www.flinders.edu.au/kokotinna/F_SECT02.HTM