Elizabeth Grant (anthropologist)

Elizabeth Grant
Born	1963 Mount Gambier, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	The University of Adelaide
Occupation	Architectural anthropologist, Academic
Spouse(s)	Leonard Cohen
Children	Todd, Paul and Timothy
Website	Official website

Elizabeth Grant (born 1963) is an Australian architectural anthropologist^[1] and academic working in the field of Indigenous Architecture at the University of Adelaide. She researches, writes and speaks on architecture and design for Indigenous peoples and prison architecture and reform. She is a regular guest on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and ABC Local Radio. She regularly writes and reviews architectural projects for architectural magazines such as Architecture Australia, the journal of the Australian Institute of Architects, the Australian Design Review and others.

Personal life

Grant was born and raised in Mount Gambier, South Australia.^[2] Her German immigrant father, Berthold Enderl valued education highly due to interrupted schooling and experiences growing up during World War II in Regensburg and encouraged his children to study and work hard. He stated "education is the only thing that cannot be taken away from you."^[3]

Grant appeared with her eldest son, Todd^[4][5][6] on the third season of The Amazing Race Australia.

Education

Grant's early schooling was in Mount Gambier, prior to taking up studies at the University of Adelaide. Grant was awarded an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Adelaide and was a collegian at St Ann's College during her studies. Grant later studied and was awarded a Graduate Diploma and a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies. Her master's thesis^[7] examined the development of Aboriginal housing at Oak Valley after land rights were granted under Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act. She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture from the University of Adelaide on her thesis entitled 'Towards Safer and more congruent environments for Aboriginal Prisoners.' The doctoral thesis was supervised by Professor Terence Williamson and Dr Paul Memmott and examined Aboriginal people's preference for prison environments as a mechanism to reduce negative behaviours such as deaths in custody in prison environments.^[8] It was the first empirical study of its kind.

Career

Grant has carried out research on the design of various environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples^[9][10] and her work has led to changes in the way prisons,^[11] courts, pre-schools^[12] and other environments are designed for Indigenous users nationally and internationally. Her research on the design of prisons for Indigenous prisoners is highly significant and has led to new standards and guidelines for the design of custodial environments for Aboriginal prisoners. This body of research was recognised by the International Corrections and Prisons Association and honoured in their 2015 awards. Grant is also a Churchill Fellow and investigated the design of correctional facilities for Indigenous prisoners in the United States New Zealand, Canada and Denmark as part of her fellowship.^[13][14][15] She has been a visiting scholar and senior research fellow at a number of universities including The University of Cambridge and The University of Queensland. Her research builds on work of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, of which key recommendations are yet to be actioned.^[1][10][16]

Her major research interests are Indigenous architecture, people-environment studies, Aboriginal housing^[17][18][19] and homelessness, prison, court and criminal justice design, Indigenous educational and play setting design, Australian penal architectural history.

She has worked as a consultant to develop Indigenous design briefs and has been a member of the design teams on numerous architectural projects. These have included:

• Taikurrendi Aboriginal Children and Family Centre ^{[20] [21][22]}
• Gabmididi Manoo Aboriginal Children and Family Centre ^{[23][24][25][26]}
• Ngura Yadurirn Aboriginal Children and Family Centre ^[27][28]
• Northern Territory Secure Facilities PPP Project^[29]
• Royal Adelaide Hospital Redevelopment Project^[30]
• Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison Project^[31]
• South Australian Prison Project^[32]

Selected Publications

Books

Gillespie, N., G. Benzier, P Babie, D. Eszenyi, R. Foster, E. Grant and C. Williams (eds) (2007). Reflections: 40 Years on from the 1967 Referendum, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement of South Australia, Adelaide.

Book chapters and articles

Grant, E. (2016). An International Overview of the Initiatives to accommodate Indigenous Prisoners in The Prison Handbook (2nd Edition), Routledge, London.

Grant, E. (2015). The Garma Cultural Knowledge Centre, Australian Design Review, June 17, 2015

Grant, E. and T. Anthony (2015). Kununurra Courthouse, Australian Design Review, May 2015.

Grant, E. and Y. Jewkes (2015). 'Finally fit for purpose: the evolution of Australian Prison Architecture' The Prison Journal, 95 (2): 1-25.

Grant, E. (2014). 'Special Feature - Architecture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children' Place: Architecture, Design and Placemaking South Australia 45, pp. 21 – 24.

Harman, K. and E. Grant (2014). 'Impossible to Detain without chains? The Use of Restraints on Aboriginal People in Policing and Prisons' History Australia, pp. 158 – 176.

Grant, E. (2014). 'The Incarceration of Aboriginal Women and Children' in Ashton, P. and Wilson, J. (eds) Silent System: Forgotten Australians and the Institutionalisation of Women and Children, Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, pp. 43 – 58.

Grant, E. and Paddick, S. (2014). Aboriginal Women in the Australian Prison System, Right Now: Human Rights in Australia, September.

Grant, E., Chong, A., Zillante, G, Beer, A., and Srivastava, A. (2014). 'The NDIS, Housing and Indigenous Australians living with a Disability' Parity Magazine Housing Homelessness and Disability Edition, June.

Grant, E. (2014). 'Approaches to the design and provision of prison accommodation and facilities for Australian Indigenous Prisoners after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody,' Australian Indigenous Law Review 77 (1) pp. 47 – 55.

Grant, E. and Y. Jewkes (2013). 'More than Guns or Grog: the role of television in the health and wellbeing of Australian Aboriginal Prisoners', Current Issues in Criminal Justice 25 (2) pp. 667 – 683.

Grant, E. (2013). 'Innovation in meeting the needs of Indigenous Inmates in Australia: West Kimberley Regional Prison' Corrections Today, September 75 (4) pp. 52 – 57.

Grant, E. (2013). 'West Kimberley Regional Prison', Architecture Australia 102 (4) pp. 74 – 84.

Grant, E. (2013). "Pack em, rack em and stack em": The appropriateness of the use and reuse of Shipping Containers for Prison Accommodation' Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 13 (2) pp. 35 – 44.

Davidson, J., P. Memmott, C. Go Sam, E. Grant (2012). Building new houses in remote Indigenous Communities, AHURI Research and Policy Bulletin Issue 152, Melbourne, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)

Grant, E., A. Hansen and T. Williamson (2012). ‘Design issues for prisoner health: Thermal conditions in Australian custodial environments’ World Health Design 5 (3) pp. 80 – 85.

Davidson, J., P. Memmott, C. Go-Sam and E. Grant (2011). Remote Indigenous housing procurement and post-occupancy outcomes - a comparative study.Peer Reviewed Final Report, Melbourne, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

Grant, E. (2010). ‘Speaking from the Heart: Stories of Life, Family and Country’ (Book Review) Journal of Pacific Affairs October 83 (1) pp. 206 – 207

Grant, E. (2009). 'Port Augusta Courts', Architecture Australia, 98 (5) pp. 86 – 90.

Grant, E. (2009). ‘The Shelter of Law’, (Book Review) Architecture Australia, 98 (5) pp. 36.

Grant, E. (2009). 'Prison Environments for Australian Aboriginal Prisoners: A South Australian Case Study' Australian Indigenous Law Review 13 (2) pp. 35 – 44.

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

Grant, E. and P. Memmott (2008). 'The Case for Single Cells and alternative ways of viewing Custodial Accommodation for Australian Aboriginal Peoples', The Flinders Journal of Law Reform 10 (3) pp. 631 – 646.

Grant, E. and P. Memmott (2007). 'The Journey so Far: Aboriginal Housing in South Australia', Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 2 (7) pp. 6 – 12.

Grant, E. and 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, pp. 79 – 98.

Grant, E. (2006). 'Mobilong Independent Living Units: New Innovations in Australian Prison Architecture', Corrections Today 68 (3) pp. 58 – 61.

Grant, E. (2006). 'The Blackster Solution; Transient Aboriginal Camps', Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 2 (2) pp. 6 – 11.

Grant, E. (2005). 'Duplex Jail', Place; Architecture, Design and Placemaking in South Australia 1 (4) pp. 12 – 15.

Wallis, J. and E. Grant (2000). 'Indigenous Education for Future Design Professionals' Architectural Theory Review 2 (11) pp. 65 – 68.

References

External links

• Staff profile at The University of Adelaide
• Elizabeth Grant Academia Page
• Dr Elizabeth Grant - Expert Guide