Indigenous research governance and methodologies, the importance of early detection and support for ear health, pandemic responses, dialysis service delivery within existing cultural frameworks, and the non-financial costs of cancer treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
These were among the topics addressed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers whose publications in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health are being profiled as part of NAIDOC Week and beyond.
This article was first published by the Public Health Association of Australia’s blog, In Touch Public Health, and is republished below with permission.
Summer May Finlay and Leanne Coombe write:
The theme of NAIDOC Week (7 – 14 July) was “Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud”.
According to the NAIDOC Week 2024 website: “This year’s theme celebrates the unyielding spirit of our communities and invites all to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced.”
One of the ways that the Public Health Association of Australia aims to amplify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices is through research published in our academic journal, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
The Journal is privileged to have a long legacy of receiving outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public health research manuscripts and these research papers often sit amongst the Journal’s most well-read articles.
I (Summer) am proud as the first Aboriginal editor of the journal, to see so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples publishing in the ANZJPH.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a long history in public health and no more so since the rise of Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, which were first established in 1972 in Redfern.
Articles published by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples centre our perspectives, which until more recently have often been excluded.
Engaging in research, challenging the deficit dialogue which is so prevalent about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, is all about keeping the fire burning and being Blak, Loud and Proud about our communities.
The commitment to publishing articles for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is one of the reasons why we choose to celebrate NAIDOC Week by highlighting a list of recent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ANZJPH ‘must read’ research papers.
Keeping the fire burning
This year’s NAIDOC theme focuses on “keeping the fire burning”, where “the fire represents the enduring strength and vitality of Indigenous cultures, passed down through generations despite the challenges faced…”
There are well-known champions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public health research that lit crucial public health research flames and are now playing a key role in passing down their expertise to the next generations.
To keep the fire burning, we need to empower and recognise early and emerging First Nations researchers who will hold the flame in the future.
That’s why we have chosen to include a range of recent articles authored by not only well-known and established First Nations researchers, but also featuring early/mid-career researchers and community members.
To keep the fire going, we also aren’t restricting our celebration of these articles to NAIDOC Week and will continue to highlight them on social media in the weeks to come.
We hope this will inspire more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, as well as Māori and other Indigenous early and mid-career researchers, to publish their public health research.
Here are our 10 must-reads
- Trusting relationships and learning together: A rapid review of Indigenous reference groups in Australian Indigenous health research, By Anita D’Aprano, Catherine Lloyd-Johnsen, Daniele Cameron, Alison Wunungmurra, Charmaine Hull, Cassie Boyle, Marjorie Naylon, Raelene Brunette, Jeannie Campbell, Veronica Matthews, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 3, 2023
- Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children, By Jack DeLacy, Leonie Burgess, Mandy Cutmore, Simone Sherriff, Susan Woolfenden, Kathleen Falster, Emily Banks, Alison Purcell, Kelvin Kong, Harvey Coates, John Curotta, Markeeta Douglas, Kym Slater, Aleathia Thompson, Jacqueline Stephens, Juanita Sherwood, Peter McIntyre, Jean Tsembis, Michelle Dickson, Jonathan Craig, Hasantha Gunasekera, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 4, 2023
- Mapping pandemic responses in urban Indigenous Australia: Reflections on systems thinking and pandemic preparedness, By Bronwyn Fredericks, Abraham Bradfield, James Ward, Sue McAvoy, Shea Spierings, Agnes Toth-Peter, Troy Combo, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 5, 2023, 100084
- A qualitative exploration of the non-financial costs of cancer care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, By Rachel Cummins, Robyn Preston, Stephanie M. Topp, Judy Taylor, Sarah Larkins, Emily Callander, Lorraine Bell, Brian Arley, Gail Garvey, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 5, 2023
- An outbreak of acute rheumatic fever in a remote Aboriginal community, By Natasha Egoroff, Hilary Bloomfield, Wanamula Gondarra, Brando Yambalpal, Terrence Guyula, Demi Forward, Gemma Lyons, Emer O’Connor, Lou Sanderson, Michelle Dowden, Desley Williams, Jessica de Dassel, Pasqualina Coffey, Elizabeth Rrapa Dhurrkay, Veronica Gondarra, Deborah C. Holt, Vicki L. Krause, Bart J. Currie, Kalinda Griffiths, Karen Dempsey, Anna Glynn-Robinson, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 5, 2023
- A pilot place-based renal dialysis model of care responding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander priorities in South Australia, By Toni Shearing, Leda Sivak, Gloria Mejia, Nikki Clinch, Kim O’Donnell, Nari Sinclair, Jared Kartinyeri, Kelli Owen, Douglas Clinch, Kim Morey, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 6, 2023
- Aboriginal peoples’ lived experience of household overcrowding in the Kimberley and implications for research reciprocity in COVID-19 recovery, By Chicky Clements, Christine Hoy, Louis Bin-Maarus, Sarah Morris, Ray Christophers, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 6, 2023, 100104
- Enhancement of scoping review methodology to reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing, By Tina Brodie, Natasha J. Howard, Odette Pearson, Kootsy Canuto, Alex Brown, ANZJPH, Volume 47, Issue 6, 2023
- Cardiometabolic health markers among Aboriginal adolescents from the Next Generation Youth Wellbeing Cohort Study, By Christopher D. McKay, Lina Gubhaju, Alison J. Gibberd, Bridgette J. McNamara, Emily Banks, Peter Azzopardi, Robyn Williams, Sandra Eades, ANZJPH, Volume 48, Issue 2, 2024
- Utilising the CREATE quality appraisal tool to analyse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ involvement and reporting of cancer research in Australia, By Mandy Henningham, John Gilroy, Joanna McGlone, Drew Meehan, Farhana Nila, Amanda McAtamney, Tanya Buchanan, ANZJPH, Volume 48, Issue 2, 2024
• The Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH) is the official journal of the PHAA. All articles are available open-access here and the journal has well over one million visits each year.
• Dr Summer May Finlay, a Yorta Yorta woman who grew up on Awabakal/Worimi country, is the ANZJPH Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Editor and previous PHAA Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander). Honorary Associate Professor Leanne Coombe is the Policy and Advocacy Manager at PHAA.
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