Dr Nicholas Drake

I’m a philosopher and Research Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. I specialize in ethics and applied social and political philosophy, especially philosophy of wellbeing and wellbeing measurement, philosophy of disability, conceptual engineering for practical contexts, and Indigenous rights.

I’m currently working with a group of academics from across the university on a project headed by Associate Professor Nick Bainton and Peter Yu, ANU’s Vice President (First Nations). We’re partnered with the Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation Limited, a Traditional Owner organisation of the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi peoples of the Pilbara region in Western Australia. I’m examining how agreements between Indigenous communities and extractive resource companies support or undermine their economic self-determination, and what shape such agreements need to take if they’re to promote Indigenous peoples’ rights and interests. The project aims to provide the Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation with useful resources for dealing with businesses and governments.