Dr Kirsten Thorpe (Worimi, Port Stephens) is Professor at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, where she leads the Indigenous Archives and Data Stewardship Hub. The Hub advocates for Indigenous rights in archives and data, and develops research and engagement in relation to refiguring libraries and archives to support the culturally appropriate ownership, management and ongoing preservation of Indigenous knowledges.

Kirsten's scholarship and advocacy in Indigenous archives and digital cultural heritage have influenced practice across Australia and internationally. Her work advances decolonising practices in the library and archive fields, and across the broader GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sector. She advocates for the 'right of reply' to records, and for capacity building and support for the development of Living Indigenous Archives on Country. Her recent book, Living Indigenous Archives (Routledge, 2025), in the Routledge Studies in Archives series and brings together the theoretical and practical foundations of this agenda.

Kirsten's doctoral research, which was awarded the Monash University Mollie Holman Medal for the Faculty of Information Technology (2022), was titled 'Unclasping the White Hand: Reclaiming and Refiguring the Archives to Support Indigenous Wellbeing and Sovereignty'. It explored Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty over the management of Indigenous knowledges, with a particular focus on engagement with archives.

Prior to her move to academia, Kirsten gained extensive leadership experience in major collecting institutions across public libraries and archives, advancing Indigenous engagement and priorities. She was Manager, Indigenous Services at the State Library of New South Wales, where she led the development of strategies supporting state-wide information services for Indigenous people. This included support for Indigenous priorities and cultural competency across NSW Public Libraries, the launch of the Library's first Indigenous Collecting Strategy, and projects supporting the documentation, return and revitalisation of Indigenous languages through archival sources. Earlier in her career, Kirsten worked as an archivist at State Records NSW. Across nearly three decades in the sector, she has contributed to national and international dialogue on Indigenous archival practices, publishing extensively in academic journals and scholarly literature.

Kirsten's research sits at the intersection of Critical Indigenous Archival Studies and Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Her work examines how archival systems and approaches can support forms of engagement grounded in respect, reciprocity and data sovereignty, an increasingly urgent set of concerns in an era when large-scale digital datasets and large language models draw upon archival knowledge. Key publications include 'Designing archival information systems through partnerships with Indigenous communities: Developing the Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes Model in Australia' (2021), and the Indigenous Archives Collective's 'Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges' (2023). 

Kirsten is a co-founder of the Indigenous Archives Collective, co-chair of the International Council on Archives Expert Group on Indigenous Matters (EGIM), and an elected member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Indigenous Matters Section (2023–2027). She is a member of the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council, appointed in 2023 for a three-year term, and was appointed an Honorary Associate at Museums Victoria in 2021.

Her contributions to the archival profession have been recognised with the President's Award from the Australian Society of Archivists (2019), and the ASA Mander Jones Award in both 2001, 2020 and 2025.