Dr Robert Foster

Biography/ Background

Born in Sydney but raised in Adelaide, Robert specialises in South Australian Aboriginal history as well as comparative indigenous history. He frequently undertakes external consultancies and in 2001 was engaged as an Expert Historian on the De Rose Hill Native Title claim. His book, Fatal Collisions: The South Australian Frontier and the Violence of Memory, co-authored with Amanda Nettelbeck and Rick Hosking, won the John Tregenza prize for South Australian history in 2002 and was short-listed for the NSW Premier's Prize for Literature.

Research Interests

• History and Memory
• The South and Central Australian Frontiers
• Aboriginal Labour and the Pastoral Industry
• Native Title
• Aboriginal Policy and Administration

Publications

For a full listing of Robert Foster's publications, please see attached document.

Books and Monographs - Joint Author Works

1. Robert Foster, P. Monaghan & P. Mühlhäusler, Dictionary of 19th Century South Australian Aboriginal English, Pacific Linguistics Monograph Series, 2003.
2. Robert Foster, Rick Hosking & Amanda Nettelbeck, Fatal Collisions: the South Australian frontier and the violence of memory, Wakefield Press, 2001.

Edited Works

1. Kartinyeri, D., The Sumner Family Genealogies, SA Museum, 1998.
2. Kartinyeri, D., Ngarrindjeri Anzacs, SA Museum & Raukkan Council, 1996.

Journal Articles And Book Chapters

1. ‘Married to the Land: Land Grants to Aboriginal Women in South Australia, 1848-1911, Australian Historical Studies, No. 121, April 2003. (Co-authored with Mandy Paul)
2. ‘Aboriginal Policy and Administration', entry for the Wakefield Companion to South Australian History , Wakefield Press, 2001.
3. ‘Aboriginal Ration Depots', entry for the Wakefield Companion to South Australian History , Wakefield Press, Wakefield Press, 2001.

Commissioned Reports

1. De Rose Hill Native Title Claim: Response to the Crown's Expert History Report , for the Native Title Unit, ALRM, April 2001.
2. De Rose Hill Native Title Claim: Expert History Report , for the Native Title Unit, ALRM, November 2000.

Bibliographic publications

1. ‘Local and Minor Court Records', Australian Legal Records Inventory, Working Paper No. 4, Australian Journal of Legal History, Adelaide, 1989.
2. ‘Legal Records in Public Collections', Australian Legal Records Inventory, Working Paper No. 3, Australian Journal of Legal History, Adelaide, 1989.

Files

• Full listing of publications - Foster.pdf [20.4K] (application/pdf)

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	History, Aboriginal & Indigenous issues
Expertise	Aboriginal people and issues (history), esp. South Australian Aboriginal history
Notes	Alt phone: (08) 8303 5611

Entry last updated: Sunday, 24 Aug 2008