Dr Cat Holmes

Dr Catherine Holmes is a Research Fellow at POLIS and has lived and worked in remote communities for over 14 years. She has extensive experience in research on childhood and family issues; digital technology; attendance, engagement and retention; alternative education curriculum and practice; and sociocultural learning. She has published research on a range of remote area issues. Dr Holmes is currently part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project 2025-2028 investigating remote Aboriginal students’ high school retention and post-school pathways. Previous positions include Research and Evaluation Specialist at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Acting Head of Research and Evaluation at Children’s Ground, PhD Scholar at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (now Centre for Indigenous Policy Research), Yarnangu Training Facilitator at The Ngaanyatjarra Lands School Network, Early Childhood Teacher at The Ngaanyatjarra Lands School Network, Papulankutja Campus and Kiwirrkura Campus.

She has a wealth of experience working in the Ngaanyatajrra and Pintupi region, specifically on education and childhood programs. As a Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Scholar, she conducted doctoral research in an area of direct relevance to this project (Children Have Big Stories: An Ethnographic Multi-Sited Study of Contemporary Ngaanyatjarra and Pintupi Early Years Practices). As well as conducting research with three separate communities across the Ngaanyatajrra and Pintupi region for her doctoral research, she has lived, worked and researched in remote communities in the Western Desert and Central Australia for 14 years and more recently, in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY). She speaks two Indigenous languages and has conducted numerous evaluations on education in remote communities in remote contexts.

Dr Holmes has experience in evaluating remote context programs having led the Angkentye-kenhe apmere Evaluation (Language Centre in central Australia) (funded by Indigenous Languages and Arts). She has been part of the inDigiMOB Evaluation (funded by Telstra), YEAH! Youth Engagement in Allied Health Evaluation (funded by Indigenous Allied Health Australia), LEGO SPIRIT Project: Supporting play through intergenerational On-Country playspaces for First Nations families in U.S., Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa Evaluation (Funded by LEGO Foundation), Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe: Children’s Ground in Central Australia 2020-2022 Evaluation (funded by Children’s Ground) and undertaken a Review of Families as First Teachers (FaFT) (Funded by the Department of Education Northern Territory).

She has worked on projects with a diverse range of organisations concerned with remote Australia such as the Department of the Education, the Northern Territory Government, Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA), Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA), First Nations Media Australia (FNMA), Children’s Ground, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee (PYEC), Ngaanyatjarra Council Aboriginal Corporation, The Ngaanyatjarra Lands School Network and Montessori Australia Foundation.

Projects

Remote Aboriginal students’ high school retention and post-school pathways (DP250104174)  2026-2028
A successful Discovery Project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) from 2025 to 2028 to determine what schools can do to retain remote Aboriginal high school students to support transition to work and further study, including strategies to improve literacy and numeracy, work readiness, confidence and transition to life beyond school. . https://www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/media-releases/discovery-project-applications-awarded-more-342-million

On Country Distance Education Junior Ranger Program 2025-2027
Collaborating with Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee(PYEC) and the Department for Education South Australia in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. Funded by NIAA.

Ngurratjuta Junior Ranger Program 2025-2027
Collaborating with Ngurratjuta Aboriginal Corportation and the Department for Education Northern Territory in the Western Desert specifically, Papunya, Watiyawanu (Mt Leibiug) and Ikuntki (Haasts Bluff). Funded by Ngurratjuta.

Angkentye-kenhe apmere consultation project (Language Centre in central Australia) 2023-2024
Evaluation project with Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA), managed by Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) and supported by, the Alice Springs Language Centre (ASLC), Batchelor Institute (BIITE) and Children’s Ground (CG).

LEGO SPIRIT Project 2023-2024
Supporting play through intergenerational On Country playspaces for First Nations families in U.S., Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) to promote early childhood learning through play and intergenerational cultural activities. A joint research project by Batchelor Institute, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Otago and the First Nations Health Authority British Columbia. Funded by LEGO. https://mailchi.mp/b88f2a13f373/reaching-youth-at-risk-for-diabetes-in-california-improving-indoor-air-quality-in-arizona-7863756?e=abec2d9d2f

inDigiMOB 2023-2024
A project with First Nations Media Australia and Telstra. An evaluation of the digital inclusion project from Years 4 to 6 across numerous sites in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. https://indigimob.com.au/

YEAH! Youth Engagement in Allied Health 2024
Evaluation project with Flinders University and Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) promoting Allied Health and Aboriginal Primary Health Care education, training and career pathways to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in the NT. https://ministers.education.gov.au/chisholm/northern-territory-youth-engagement-allied-health

Intercultural partnership for postvention suicide support 2024
Evaluation with Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) and StandBy. https://standbysupport.com.au/

Emerging Priorities Project (EPP): Researching school engagement of Aboriginal students and their families from regional and remote areas project 2023-2024
A joint research project by Batchelor Institute, Curtin University and the University of Notre Dame. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Education. https://www.remoteschoolengagement.au/

Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe: Children’s Ground in Central Australia 2022-2023
Evaluating the Children’s Ground Approach in Central Australia from 2020 to 2022. https://childrensground.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Evaluation-of-Ampe-kenhe-Ahelhe-2017-2019-summary-final.pdf

Families as First Teachers (FaFT) 2023
Requested by the Department of Education Northern Territory, an evaluation of the Families as First Teachers (FaFT) program in various Northern Territory remote communities. https://education.nt.gov.au/support-for-teachers/faft

Children’s Ground: Learning and Wellbeing Team Action Research Project 2022
Collaborating with the Learning and Wellbeing teams from four locations on Central, Eastern and Western Arrernte Country in and around Mparntwe (Alice Springs) namely: Mpweringke Anapipe (Northern Outstations, North of Mparntwe), Irrkerlantye (East of Mparntwe), Uyenpere Atwatye (Hidden Valley Town Camp, Mparntwe) and Yarrenyty Arltere (Larapinta Valley Town Camp, Mparntwe) to review Cultural and Western learning on Early Years Sessions. https://childrensground.org.au/

Utyerre Apanpe First Nations Educators’ Network: Forum 2022
Organising and coordinating the forum in Mparntwe with First Nations delegates from across Australia. Utyerre Apanpe Network Forums provide nourishment in the knowledge we own and share through our kinship systems and cultural responsibilities. https://childrensground.org.au/advocacy-and-action/utyerre-apanpe/