Collaborations and community engagement

Governance and collaborations

This project is an exemplar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led research.

Our transdisciplinary and transcultural team includes 48 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Chief Investigators and 17 partner organisations. Our governance structure is aligned with the four reform pillars of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

We will establish a governance group which includes representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and Elders, supported by an embedded NACCHO Senior Policy Officer to ensure outcomes contribute to this transformative shift.

Community engagement

Community and consumer engagement will provide participation through co-design from inception to implementation. This project has been co-developed over four years, with rigorous community co-design, to develop acceptable, culturally-appropriate strategies to support parents.

Additionally, our team of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Chief Investigators and organisations have directly engaged community-controlled and government health organisations, demonstrating leadership and strengthening mutual capacity.

Partners

Project partners are recognised leaders across the health, education and community sectors, and have been at the forefront of change to improve health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

They are critical to the success of this project and are ideally placed to influence practice and policy decisions, ensuring that the infrastructure we build is integrated into ongoing programs and systems.

First Nations Peak Body partners

• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)
• The Healing Foundation
• Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM)
• The Lowitja Institute
• SNAICC – National Voice for our Children
• Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA)
• Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO)

Partner organisations

• We Al-li Pty Ltd
• Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE)
• Ngangk Yira Institute for Change, Murdoch University
• Emerging Minds
• Orygen Youth Mental Health

Implementing site partners

• Mercy Hospital
• The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne
• Western Australia Country Health Service
• Armadale Health Service