Bignall's primary research interests fall within the field of postcolonial political philosophy, informed particularly by her work with Indigenous peoples engaged in sovereign Nation-building for self-determination and treaty.
Her publications typically seek alliances between Indigenous Australian and contemporary European philosophies, aiming to find shared conceptual orientations.
Her academic work is guided by a particular interest in the philosophical lineage from Spinoza to Deleuze and traverses critical posthumanism and continental philosophy, anarchism, colonial and postcolonial politics and culture, theories of embodiment and agency, feminism and ethics.
With Larissa Behrendt, Daryle Rigney and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Bignall is founding co-editor of the book series Indigenous Nations and Collaborative Futures, published by Rowman and Littlefield International.
She appears regularly as a curator and lecturer for Professor Rosi Braidotti's annual Summer School on Posthumanism at the University of Utrecht and participates in international projects funded by research organisations based in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.