Introduction
Dr Mary Graham is a Kombumerri person (South-East Queensland) with ties to the Wakka Wakka nation (South Burnett) through her mother’s people. She is a respected Elder, educator, and philosopher whose work has profoundly influenced contemporary understandings of Aboriginal knowledge systems.
With a background in political science and a career spanning community development, governance, and academia, Dr Graham is best known for her teaching and writing on Indigenous philosophies, particularly the concepts of relationality and responsibility. Through her scholarship and public engagement, she has played a vital role in bridging Aboriginal and Western worldviews, offering insights into ethics, governance, and ways of living that centre balance, reciprocity, and care for Country.
In this article you’ll find an overview of some of her work; including articles, papers, webinars and podcasts.
Aboriginal political philosophy is not pitched only to Australia. Aboriginal political concepts do speak back to the ideas that came to this and other continents through waves of European colonial expansion in recent centuries. But they speak, more so, to relations we have with the Earth, its life forms, and with each other. As we grapple with the challenge of climate change, they show us that we do not have to inhabit the bleak chaos of the Anthropocene. – Mary Graham and Morgan Brigg, 2020.
Profiles
Read
Why we need Aboriginal political philosophy now, more than ever.
Written by Mary Graham and Morgan Brigg (2020)
Aboriginal Australians have sustained the world’s oldest political systems, grounded in the landscape and relational responsibilities. Though long denied by settler colonialism, these philosophies are now being more systematically articulated, offering guidance for more just relationships between peoples, land, and life. They provide vital alternatives to the destructive patterns of the Anthropocene.
This article links to 7 important concepts to explore:
1. “Wisdom”: Rediscovering Aboriginal political concepts
2. “Ethics”: The limits of liberalism
3. “Autonomy”: The limits of freedom
4. “Proportionality”: The meaning of justice
5. “Country”: Refusing colonial desecration
6. “Relationalism”: An alternative to sovereignty
7. “Autonomous regard”: Aboriginal realpolitik in a time of conflict
8. “A relationalist ethos”: Managing survivalism
9. Human futures and the incomplete Dreaming story of COVID-19
Communiqué from a civilisational culture: Ten principles for life together after the referendum
Written by Mary Graham and Morgan Brigg (2023)
On the eve of the Voice referendum, the national debate has been polarising. Rather than taking sides, the focus here is on the longer-term task of how First Nations peoples and other Australians live together. While constitutional recognition follows British political traditions, it should not define all political life on this continent. First Nations peoples have long-standing knowledge of creating sustainable socio-political orders, which can guide us if approached with respect. In this spirit, ten reflective suggestions are offered as an invitation to think beyond the referendum’s polarisation.
1. Complement citizenship with stewardship
2. Beware the excluded middle
3. Moderate individualism
4. Reconsider domination
5. Observe fractal phenomena
6. Be responsible to others
7. Pursue reflective conduct
8. Be lawful
9. Avoid short-termism
10. Become more human
The Law of Obligation, Aboriginal Ethics: Australia Becoming, Australia Dreaming
Written by Mary Graham (2023) Published in Parrhesia 37, p1-21
This paper examines Aboriginal ethics in Australia, highlighting the deep connection between Indigenous peoples and the land while critiquing the limitations of Western ethical frameworks.
Some Thoughts about the Philosophical Underpinnings of Aboriginal Worldviews
Written by Mary Graham (1999)
Listen
Stability, security and survival: A conversation with Mary Graham
The Philosopher’s Zone: ABC Radio National (2024)
Mary Graham is one of Australia’s most distinguished Aboriginal academics and authors. In this conversation, she articulates a political philosophy of relationality, conflict management and much more.
Dr Mary Graham – Professor, UQ
Black Magic Woman with Mundanara Bayles: Podcast (2020)
Listening to First Nations knowledge to inform Earth-centred, collaborative governance: Women’s Climate Conversations
Earth Matters: 3CR Community Radio (2021)
First Law and Songlines
The Other Others: Podcast (2021)
Watch
Aboriginal Political Philosophy: A Conversation with Mary Graham & Morgan Brigg
UQ Humanities, Arts and Social Science (2025)
For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal peoples in Australia have drawn on the landscape to shape enduring socio-political orders, making them the world’s oldest political designers. After more than two centuries of colonisation, they are now increasingly articulating and reasserting their governance traditions—signalling both a resurgence and a new phase of Aboriginal political philosophy.
Holding, Thoughts on Body and Country, in Place: A Conversation with Mary Graham & Ariel Salleh
UQ Humanities, Arts and Social Science (2025)
This dialogue between two of Australia’s leading critical theorists, Mary Graham and Ariel Salleh, begins with Salleh’s notion of ‘Holding’—the labour that sustains living processes—and expands to themes of embodied and wide green natures, mothering, and Indigenous care for land.
Towards an Australian Worldview: A Conversation with Mary Graham & Freya Mathews
UQ Humanities, Arts and Social Science (2025)
Place-responsive Education: A Conversation with Mary Graham & Megan Laverty
UQ Humanities, Arts and Social Science (2025)
Mary Graham Metaphysical Identity Time for an Australian Philosophy?
Philosophy at UQ (2025)
The Land and its Laws of Obligation
The Royal Society of Victoria (2021)
The Law of Obligation holds that because humans come from and learn from the land, caring for it is a reciprocal duty. From this principle, all social, legal, and economic systems should flow, grounding human culture in both ethical and practical responsibility to the land.
Indigenous Philosophy and the Relationist Ethos: Greenprints Exchange Workshop Series
Australian Earth Laws Alliance (2022)
Building governance systems for localisation
New Economy Network Australia (2023)
Explore Further
- Unpacking Colonial Assumptions
- First Nations and Multicultural Voices from the Climate Movement
- What’s Next for First Nations Justice?
- Insights into Indigenous Solidarity, Creativity and Social Justice with Laniyuk & Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira (Commons Conversations Podcast)
- Stories from the Frontlines: First Nations Voices on Climate Justice (Webinar)
- Passing the Message Stick: Messages that Build Support for Change on First Nations Justice
- First Nations Resources: Start Here