Annual Report 20 17 Who We Are The Lowitja Institute is Australia’s national institute for Strait Islander control of the research agenda, a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. It broader understanding of health that incorporates is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation wellbeing, and the need for the work to have a clear working for the health and wellbeing of Australia’s and positive impact. First Peoples through high impact quality research, The Lowitja Institute hosts the Lowitja Institute knowledge translation, and by supporting a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander funded by the Cooperative Research Centres health researchers. Programme of the Australian Government Established in January 2010, the Lowitja Institute Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. operates on key principles of Aboriginal and Torres The Lowitja Institute is a company limited by guarantee with the following membership: Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association | Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies | Central Australian Aboriginal Congress | Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives | Danila Dilba Health Service | Flinders University | Healing Foundation | Indigenous Allied Health Australia | Menzies School of Health Research | National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association | QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute | The University of Melbourne OUR PATRON Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue was born in 1932 at Indulkana, in north-west corner South Australia, to a Pitjantjatjara mother and an Irish father. At the age of two, she and two of her sisters were taken away from their mother on behalf of South Australia’s Aboriginal Protection Board. In 1954, Dr O’Donoghue became the first Aboriginal trainee nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where she became charge sister. Following a period in India in the mid-1960s, she returned to Australia and resumed what became a distinguished career of advocacy and achievement for the rights of Australia’s First Peoples. Among her many awards, she was the first Aboriginal woman to be awarded an Order of Australia (AO) in 1976, was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1999, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1983, and Australian of the Year in 1984, during which time she became the first Aboriginal person to address the United Nations General Assembly. She was named a National Living Treasure in 1998. Dr O’Donoghue holds a number of honorary fellowships and doctorates and a professorial fellowship. She the inaugural Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health (1996–2003). In 2010, she gifted her name to the Lowitja Institute. Through a chance meeting, she was reunited with her mother, Lily, in the mid-1960s. On the cover: Jindi Worabak dance performance at the Lowitja Institute Young Men’s Health Workshop, March 2017, James Henry Photography Contents Chairperson’s Message ........................................................................................................................................2 Chief Executive Officer’s Report .........................................................................................................................3 Research and Knowledge Translation ................................................................................................................4 Program Committees ............................................................................................................................. 5 Research highlights ................................................................................................................................ 6 Current projects ............................................................................................................................... 6 New projects ................................................................................................................................... 7 The Lancet–Lowitja Institute Global Collaboration ..................................................................................................................... 8 Identfying research priorites: Workshops .................................................................................................... 9 Valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young men .............................................................................. 9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disability research .............................................................................. 11 2017 Knowledge Translation Plans .............................................................................................................................................11 2017 Research funding round.....................................................................................................................................................11 Policy, Programs and Impact .............................................................................................................................12 Translating research into practice ............................................................................................................. 12 Submissions .................................................................................................................................. 12 Seminars and workshops .................................................................................................................. 14 Changing the Narrative ..................................................................................................................... 15 Forging relationships ........................................................................................................................... 16 The Lowitja Institute International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2016 ....................................... 16 6th NHMRC Research Translation Symposium co-hosted with the Lowitja Institute ............................................ 20 The Canada – Australia Indigenous Health and Wellness Collaboration ........................................................... 21 Growing the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers .......................................... 22 Other activities ................................................................................................................................... 23 A Strong and Sustainable Organisation ............................................................................................................26 The Lowitja Institute Strategic Plan 2015–18 ............................................................................................... 26 Board of Directors ............................................................................................................................... 28 Corporate ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Innovation and business development ...................................................................................................... 30 The Lowitja Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC .................................................................................. 32 Strong brand and communications ........................................................................................................... 34 Finance ...............................................................................................................................................................................................36 Appendix 1: Acronyms ......................................................................................................................................37 Other Highlights .................................................................................................................................................38 The Lowitja Institute Annual Report 2017 | 1 Chairperson’s Message In March 2017, the Lowitja Institute hosted a briefing by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and individuals for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. The discussions focused on the need for Australian governments to have a new and different way of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Also, the need for efforts that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and knowledges, address and eliminate racism, and are underpinned by a rebalancing of power toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander institutions and communities. The Lowitja Institute called for As Chairperson of the Lowitja Institute is was has been government to invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait my privilege to work with some outstanding Board Islander organisations, and for global networks to members. This year we farewelled Professor Greg bring together Indigenous health experts, academics Anderson (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute), and policymakers to effect positive outcomes for First Mr Russell Taylor AM (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Peoples. and Torres Strait Islander Studies), and Ms Robynne Quiggin (Australian Human Rights Commission) and I On a personal note, I was honoured to receive the thank them for their contribution. 2016