Aboriginal health

CHASE’s work in the Aboriginal health field has grown out of our partnership with Wesley Mission Victoria (WMV) and Aboriginal Elders within North East Melbourne. As the basis of this partnership CHASE and WMV understand their role as facilitating development and implementation of research ideas originating with the Aboriginal Elders, in a manner that fosters Aboriginal research capacity and remains at all times under the control of Aboriginal participants.

Two projects have resulted so far, described below. In each of these, an Aboriginal reference group guided the work of the project at all stages, endorsed the findings and drafted the recommendations. The two Elders who had identified the need for the project formed the core of the group, and worked on the project from start to finish as chief investigators. At different times during the project, other community members joined the group to assist in its work. The Aboriginal researchers were included in the group, attending meetings and providing input whenever they were able. It was important that the membership remained open and flexible, enabling people to take part in aspects that were important to them in a way that allowed them to attend to other commitments and events in their lives, as they arose.

The partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers in the projects was articulated by the Elders involved in terms of ‘reconciliation work’, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people working together, with mutual respect, to create change. This spirit was articulated by those Elders, Aunty Shirley Firebrace and Uncle Reg Blow, at the start of the first project and informed the design and development of everything that took place subsequently. In practical terms, the work involved a sharing of expertise and knowledge between the Reference Group and the non-Aboriginal researchers, regardless of the specific tasks that the various members of the broader ‘team’ undertook at any given stage of the projects.

Talking it up!(pdf 186KB)

Healing Stories (pdf 193KB)

Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Custodians of the Land, the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin nations on whose land these reports were produced; and Elders past and present. As we share knowledge, learning and research within these reports, we also pay respect to the knowledge embedded forever within the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country.