Welcome to the Lowitja Institute Repository

This institutional research repository is for the work of the Lowitja Institute, Australia’s national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Research Institute. Our work focuses on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Indigenous peoples across the globe. This Repository tracks the research outputs of Lowitja Institute employees, funded researchers and scholars as well as showcases community-led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research.

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Lowitja Institute Repository

Recent Submissions

It affects everything: A national study exploring racism and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
(2026-05-14) Ngampromwongse K.; Gall A.; Garvey G.; Howard K.; Anderson K.
Purpose: Racism is an enduring legacy of colonisation that is deeply embedded in Australian systems, structures and daily life. While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ experiences of racism have been well documented, efforts to address its structural root causes and its impacts on wellbeing have been inadequate and inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the pathways through which racism impacts the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in so-called Australia. Methods: An Indigenous-led secondary analysis was conducted using reflexive thematic analysis of transcripts from 45 yarning circles and six individual yarns with 359 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, originally collected as part of the What Matters 2Adults study. The original study focused on identifying what supports wellbeing; however, discussions of racism emerged repeatedly and unprompted in participants’ yarns. A reflexive thematic approach was used to identify and explore how racism emerged in participants’ stories of what supports or disrupts their wellbeing. Main findings: Racism was found to deeply permeate participants’ lives across six interrelated pathways: threatening cultural survival; undermining kinship systems; denigrating systems of power and justice; perpetuating harmful stereotypes; inflicting health harms; and challenging self-determination and sovereignty. Principal conclusions: These findings expose the complex and wide-reaching ways that racism infiltrates the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples – undermining wellbeing not only in everyday life, but across generations. They demonstrate that racism operates through systemic and colonial pathways that must be recognised, disrupted and dismantled. This study adds to mounting calls for urgent, structural action to eradicate racism in all its forms in Australia.
Identifying success factors and impacts of social and emotional well-being programmes for First Nations youth in Australia: a scoping review protocol.
(2026-03-07) Kealey J.; Ward R.; Pocock C.; Schaffer K.; Scott R.; Burton L.
Introduction: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth hold central roles in the preservation and transmission of cultural knowledge, community leadership and Australia’s social and political future. Fostering youth well-being is essential in the context of historical, social and political impacts of colonisation. Social and emotional well-being (SEWB) is a holistic concept grounded in First Nations worldviews, encompassing connections to country, culture, spirituality, family, community, body and mind. Many programmes aim to support SEWB among First Nations youth; however, evidence describing programme success factors outcomes remains fragmented and is often shaped by Western-centric methodologies. This protocol outlines a culturally responsive scoping review that will map success factors and SEWB impacts of programmes delivered in Australia for First Nations youth aged 10–18 years that is designed to be undertaken collaboratively with First Nations people and non-Indigenous allies. Identity: In recognition of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their right to self-identify using preferred terminologies, in this protocol, we respectfully use ‘First Nations peoples’ to refer to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia and ‘First Nations youth’ to refer to those aged 10–18 years. We further acknowledge that this use of this terminology may not capture the many and varied First Nations identities within Australia. Methods and analysis: This scoping review protocol outlines a revised, culturally responsive version of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and will be conducted using an Indigenous-informed, decolonising approach. Peer-reviewed and grey literature reporting on Australian SEWB programmes delivered to First Nations youth between 2000 and 2025 will be included. Databases to be searched include MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest and EBSCOhost. Targeted Indigenous sources will be searched, including Informit Indigenous Collection, Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, National Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisation and Lowitja Institute repositories, along with relevant organisational and government websites. Three reviewers will independently screen records and extract data. Articles requiring cultural responsivity assessment will be reviewed by First Nations researchers. Data will be analysed using inductive content analysis to identify programme success factors and reported SEWB outcomes, with interpretation guided by First Nations members of the research team. Ethics and dissemination: The protocol is guided by Australian Indigenous research ethics frameworks including the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research and the Lowitja Institute’s guidance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Findings will be disseminated through culturally appropriate channels to communities and stakeholders.
Advancing brain health equity with indigenous peoples: A critical imperative.
(2026-02-25) Clarke A.J.; Whetung C.; Suchy-Dicey A.; Withall A.; Radford K.; Gooding D.C.; Lavrencic L.; Dudley M.; Lo Giudice D.; Flicker L.; Boluarte A.S.; Aggarwal S.; Conniff K.R.; Brodtmann A.G.; Diaz M.M.; Tremblay S.A.; Nwofe E.S.; Gleason C.E.; Jacklin K.; Kaholokula J.K.; Gibson C.; Souza-Talarico J.; Roach P.; Alzheimer's Association Intermission 2025: Stronger Together Collaboration
Indigenous communities hold rich knowledges, cultural practices, and kinship networks that sustain cognitive resilience and nurture brain health across the life course. Yet these enduring strengths are often obscured by biomedical models that overlook the structural determinants of health-including the cumulative effects of colonization, educational inequity, and socioeconomic disadvantage-that diminish brain health. Accordingly, dementia disproportionately affects Indigenous populations globally, often presenting with earlier onset and higher prevalence compared to non-Indigenous groups. This perspective synthesizes the current epidemiological evidence, situates dementia risk within its structural and historical context, and explores how Indigenous knowledges, cultural continuity, and community leadership can inform dementia research and care more broadly. Our global insights call for a decisive shift: to decolonize dementia research and policy and move beyond deficit-based narratives toward approaches that prioritize Indigenous leadership and culturally grounded, strengths-based pathways to brain health equity. HIGHLIGHTS: This perspective synthesizes global evidence on dementia epidemiology among Indigenous populations, examining structural determinants and Indigenous perspectives on brain health and dementia care. Structural inequities and the enduring legacies of colonization, rather than biology alone, underpin the disproportionate dementia burden among Indigenous peoples worldwide. Centering culture, kinship, and connection to land and community reframes brain health beyond biomedical models and reveals cultural resilience as a powerful neuroprotective resource. Key recommendations call for Indigenous leadership and locally tailored, culturally grounded approaches to advance lifelong brain health equity and develop strengths-based models of dementia care.
‘I understand the importance of cultural safety but do not really know enough about how to implement it’: A qualitative exploration of health practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of providing culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and families in neonatal intensive care units
(2026-04-17) Bennett J.; Booth K.; Bryant J.; Kennedy M.
Purpose: Culturally safe care in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) is crucial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and their families. Despite national efforts to improve culturally safe care, there is inconsistency in the way that health practitioners engage and translate cultural safety into their clinical practice. Currently, there is limited literature on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in NICUs to inform evidence-based practice. This study sought to explore health practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in delivering culturally safe care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and families in NICUs. Methods: This paper presents the qualitative findings of an online, cross-sectional, descriptive survey conducted with health practitioners from two New South Wales NICUs. Two open-ended questions were thematically analysed. A total of 164 complete open-ended responses were provided for question one and 103 for question two. Participants were recruited via flyers located in participant workspaces over a six-month period. Main findings: Five themes were identified. Theme one: Staff are aware of the term cultural safety and their role in delivering culturally safe care. Theme two: Staff lack confidence and find it difficult to deliver culturally safe care. Theme three: Truth telling: culturally safe care is not always upheld in practice. Theme four: Education is important, but staff want experiential learning to be able to enact cultural safety in practice. Theme five: Systemic change is necessary: policies and guidelines need to be created, and Aboriginal leadership needs to be prioritised. Principal conclusions: Health practitioners in NICU settings have reported a lack of confidence and support to deliver culturally safe care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and their families. This study highlights the need for experiential learning, face-to-face education, and an increase in representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in health services. Further research is recommended at both a local and national level to inform policy and practice of culturally safe care in NICUs.
Responsive service design and workforce strengthening: Recommendations to improve aged care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
(2024-11-10) Pearson O.; Parrella A.; Zagler J.; Morey K.; Veziari Y.; Brown A.
Objective: This study aimed to develop innovative and practical strategies and recommendations for aged care policy and practice that support the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Methods: A research symposium was held in June 2023 on Kaurna Country at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. The symposium brought together 70 attendees including aged care consumers, Federal and State Government representatives, advocacy services, health, aged care and social service providers, and health and aged care researchers. Two roundtable sessions titled 'Responsive Service Design' and 'Workforce Strengthening' were conducted following a World Café approach. Data were analysed thematically. Results: This paper proposes recommendations relating to innovation and improvement within aged care policy and practice. Recommendations for responsive service design and workforce strengthening include the following: (1) promote genuine engagement and involvement, (2) establish partnerships between sectors, (3) ensure compliance, (4) innovative communication and feedback pathways, (5) holistic approaches to well-being, (6) prioritise cultural safety and (7) flexible recruitment and retention strategies. Conclusions: Working together and building partnerships between diverse stakeholders including community members, workforce, service providers and policymakers is required for sustainable and meaningful innovation within the aged care sector. Our recommendations, driven by community needs, provide an opportunity to ensure the innovation and implementation of ongoing aged care reforms meet the needs and expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.