ATSIRU

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit & iMob Panel

Empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices through appropriate, ethical and culturally sensitive research on every project.
Ipsos ATSIRU acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images and/or names of deceased persons.

Ipsos Public Affairs has undertaken research projects involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for well over 25 years.

In early 2016 we created the Ipsos Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit (ATSIRU) which specialises in employing, training and mentoring Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples to collect an impartial community voice in our research projects.

A different perspective

The mission statement is to do research the “right way” and build a pathway to develop innovative research and evaluation practice that has Ipsos’s core values of integrity, entrepreneurialism, client first, collaboration and curiosity reflected through an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lens.

Genuine inclusivity

Our work within the Ipsos ATSIRU is done so that we work “with” and “as” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We employ local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people within their communities. We provide training, support and mentoring for them to be able to conduct interviews and surveys with their own people, in their first language.

Local Researchers in a NT remote community
Local Researchers in a NT remote community

iMOB

iMOB is a group of Australian First Nations peoples’ peoples who are interested in taking part in paid market and social research surveys.

iMOB was formed by ATSIRU in 2023 to strengthen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in our research projects and give people an opportunity to volunteer to participate in paid online surveys, focus groups or to complete interviews over the phone or possibly even face-to-face.

Since its beginnings in 2023, iMOB has grown to:

  • Have 3,000+ panel members, with representation across every state and territory with a broad age profile.
  • Re-invest $300,000+ back into community via incentive payments.
  • Deliver 40+ separate projects, ranging from smaller bespoke samples to larger studies with nearly n=1000 survey completes.

To find out more about our iMOB panel click here.

Making a difference

In 2023 Ipsos committed to returning profits from the ATSIRU and iMOB sections of the business to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Ipsos connects with Indigenous businesses in multiple ways to support them by donating to Indigenous services through a range of avenues.

To date Ipsos has made contributions to support multiple events as well as supporting 13Yarn with funding to create a Male suicide prevention toolkit which will become an open-source kit to support both services and communities deal with pre and post issues regarding this concerning topic.

Testimonials

The First nations Digital Inclusion Research team at RMIT and Swinburne Universities are proud to partner with Ipsos Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit and iMOB Panel (ATSIRU iMOB) team on the Measuring Digital inclusion for First Nations Australians project. This important national research is helping to measure progress on Closing the Gap Target 17 aimed at equity in digital inclusion for First Nations people wherever they live, across urban, regional and remote Australia.

In 2025, the Ipsos ATSIRU team brought their specialist cultural and community experience to undertake over 1350 face to face surveys in 35 locations across Australia, as well as nearly 650 surveys via their iMob panel. They achieved this under challenging time constraints and amidst cyclones, flooding and wet season impacts, while navigating cultural and community needs. We could not have achieved the first round of data collection without Ipsos ATSIRU's unique national capability and experience.

As we prepare to embark on the second round of data collection, we want to acknowledge the strong First Nations leadership and their integrity and commitment to culturally appropriate research methodology and indigenous data governance. Together our research is helping to support improved digital access, affordability, and skills for First Nations Australians nationally. Again, a big thank you to the Ipsos ATSIRU team for your continued partnership and support. DANIEL FEATHERSTONE, RMIT UNIVERSITY

We're a big believer of having genuine First Nations representation in our research, and the iMOB panel helps us to delivers that in the way its participants are recruited. The panel is backed by a service-oriented team who are responsive and flexible to varying audience and sampling requests. DAVID RUFFOLO, HALL & PARTNERS

Milestones

Since the Unit was established it has achieved some huge milestones. Projects completed or currently underway include:

The Ipsos Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit is able to work across Australia with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We have a vast network of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers that we have trained, supported and mentored to be able to undertake research the right way for their own communities.