Josephine is a mainland Torres Strait Islander, born in Townsville, North Queensland. She is a Gumulgal woman of Mabuiag Island through her father's ancestral line with links to Moa Island. On her mothers line Josephine's ancestry links to Badu, Mer and Dawar Islands. Her research interests focus on governance, leadership and organisational development by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Josephine's knowledges stems from her professional experiences in national Indigenous governance, organisational development and Indigenous youth leadership development.
Researcher biography
Dr Josephine Bourne is an academic in Political Science. Her research draws on her expert knowledge and understanding of Indigenous Politics, Australian Policy and Political Institutions, from both a practice and a theoretical perspective. She has worked on various state and federal policy initiatives, including Indigenous education and youth leadership development, possibilities for the design of a national Indigenous representative mechanism, constitutional reform options and state-based treaty-making. Her main research interest is in analysing public, private and third sector responses to complex problems and the ways the mental frames of various actors can be transformed to adopt new ways of working, with a focus on Political Leadership, Governance and Indigenous Nation Building. Josephine is co-author of the second edition of Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century: Old Institutions, New Challenges (Cambridge University Press, 2022).