Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ meanings of home: a systematic scoping review

Meanings of home differ across cultures, ontologies, and geographies. Housing literature predominantly applies a Western worldview to home, with home meaning a dwelling and a site of belonging, economic value and social reproduction. First Peoples’ meanings of home are largely rendered invisible and undervalued within this discourse. A systematic scoping review explored meanings of home from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. Applying Indigenous research methodology, only records that privileged the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were included. A non-Aboriginal researcher was guided by the knowledges and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to develop a culturally appropriate overview on home. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s meanings of home are relational. Home is about relationships to family, community, culture, Country, spirituality, and a sense of ontological belonging and safety. This review expands the housing studies mindset on home, centring First Peoples’ meanings of home within an Indigenous framing and methodology.