The National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS) was established in January, 2005. NCIS’s charter is for it to be recognised as a leading academic institute for inter-disciplinary research in fields of relevance to Indigenous Australians, especially in relation  to the enrichment of scholarly and public understandings of Australian Indigenous cultures and histories. NCIS works collaboratively with the nine main research and teaching areas of relevance to Indigenous Australians within the ANU.

NCIS is privileged to have close working relationships with the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and the National Museum of Australia.