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The choice of RHD is telling: the disease is a marker of inequality, a novel lens for considering health systems and a feasible target for disease control.

The Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team follows an holistic definition of Aboriginal Health which means that health is not just the physical wellbeing of an individual but includes the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole community.

We are working with the leadership and staff at foster care agencies and community members to provide information about cultural connection, and cultural activity and resources for Aboriginal children living in non-Aboriginal care arrangements.

In partnership with local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, the Elder-led co-designed Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin project is guided by principles of reciprocity, capacity building, respect, and community involvement. Through this work, the team of Elders, community members, clinicians and research staff have gained insight into the skin health needs of urban-living Aboriginal koolungar (children); and having identified a lack of targeted and culturally appropriate health literacy and health promotion resources on moorditj (strong) skin, prioritised development of community-created healthy skin resources.

Indigenous peoples globally have incurred significant harm resulting from colonisation and the forced removal of children from their families, culture, communities and Country. Over the last two decades in Australia, there have been calls for significant reform and there has been a raft of policy changes in child protection services. However the problems are intractable, and the numbers of Indigenous children being removed from their families continues to rise.

The fifth Big Elders meeting/gathering was held on the Wednesday, 28th of February 2024 at Burswood on Swan.

Low vitamin D status and intake are prevalent among the Australian population, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We hypothesised that some traditional foods could contain vitamin D, and measured vitamin D in foods from Nyoongar Country, Western Australia. Samples of kangaroo, emu, squid/calamari and lobster/crayfish were collected and prepared by Aboriginal people using traditional and contemporary methods.

Honorary Research Associate

Director of First Nations Strategy and Leadership; Head, First Nations Health and Equity Research

Despite the volume of accumulating knowledge from prospective Aboriginal cohort studies, longitudinal data describing developmental trajectories in health and well-being is limited.