The Pharmacopeia is a catalogue of the medicinal properties of native plants found in Dharawal Country.

In Indigenous society, knowledge is passed from generation to generation in an oral tradition. As a child, Auntie Fran Bodkin’s mother took her around Dharawal country showing her the native plants and teaching her their medicinal uses. After her mother’s death when she was 14 years old, Auntie Fran committed to carrying on with this work and eventually went to university, where she studied environmental science.

Auntie Fran has recorded the knowledge she has accumulated about native plants found in Dharawal Country in the Dharawal Pharmacopeia to ensure that this knowledge is recognised and respected by western science and protected under western law. Auntie Fran gifted the Dharawal Pharmacopeia to Western Sydney University (whose Campbelltown campus is located on Dharawal country) for the purposes of research, education, and community engagement, and in particular, so that students of Western Sydney University can learn about the plants and their medicinal uses.

The Dharawal Pharmacopeia is a single digital work. Access to material from the Dharawal Pharmacopeia is by default restricted to Western Sydney University staff and students.

Use of the content in the Pharmacopeia is governed by strict Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) guidelines. Dealing with any part of the traditional knowledge incorporated in the Dharawal Pharmacopoeia for publications and commercial exploitation that has not been authorised by Auntie Frances (Fran) Bodkin and the Dharawal people is a serious breach of the customary laws of the Indigenous community and may also breach the Copyright Act 1968. For more information please contact copyright@westernsydney.edu.au

Access to researchers beyond WSU is approved by Auntie Fran on a case-by-case basis. Request access to the Dharawal Pharmacopeia.