Inequity in the health status of the Indigenous community in Australia persists with continuing disparities in life expectancy and significant morbidity from chronic disease early in adulthood. The University of Queensland has recognised the need to contribute to overcoming these disparities in the broadest sense and has established the Centre for Indigenous Health.
The Centre for Indigenous Health is uniquely placed to build community capacity through the empowerment of Indigenous students within the health professions, therefore generating effective and sustainable health benefits for indigenous communities. The Centre aims to facilitate cross-disciplinary awareness of Indigenous health issues and enable students from a range of health disciplines to gain first-hand experience of health in Indigenous communities.
The Centre also facilitates the integration of Indigenous health in curriculums across the Faculty, which offers programs in dentistry, health and rehabilitation sciences, human movement studies, pharmacy, medicine, nursing and midwifery, and population health.
The Centre aims to generate interest and demand in Indigenous health careers, and boost numbers of Indigenous health graduates.
The vision of the Centre is to contribute to the improved health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through excellence in health research and education by working across the Faculty of Health Sciences and the University, in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Centre is achieving this by providing links to each of the Schools within the Faculty as well as facilitating interdisciplinary research and fostering strategic and community research partnerships.
Specific Goals of the Centre
- Establish partnerships with key stakeholders in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health as well as with Indigenous communities to ensure appropriate structures and processes are in place for the development and implementation of initiatives.
- Develop and implement high level research that contributes to the evidence base and responds to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health needs as identified in the National Health and Medical Research Council Roadmap for Indigenous health research.
- Provide policy and program development advice to government and ensure translation of research outcomes into practice.
- Build capacity for research and education in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, including higher degree research supervision.
- Facilitate recruitment and retention of Indigenous students into health programs across the Faculty including maintaining links with specific communities, organisation of Schools.
- Develop and promote high quality Indigenous health curriculum in all Faculty of Health Sciences programs and more broadly across the University.
Other relevant links
Australian Indigenous Doctors Association
Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Advisory Committee
Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health Qld