Winnunga prison health study

Research partner(s)

Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service (WNAHS)

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) Australian University College of Arts and Social Sciences

This project was initiated by the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service (WNAHS) in response to the construction of the ACT’s first prison, the Alexander Maconochie Correctional Centre, which was due for completion and to receive its first inmates in 2008. Through its current work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates at Goulburn and Cooma prisons in NSW, and the Belconnen Remand Centre and Quamby Youth Detention Centre in the ACT, WNAHS recognised the ACT prison opening as an opportunity to improve the appropriateness and effectiveness of health care delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates of custodial institutions.

Output(s)

You do the crime, you do the time: Best practice model of holistic health service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates of the ACT prison,

Type

Report

Authors

Nerelle Poroch with Julie Tongs, Peter Sharp, Mick Dodson, Steve Larkin, Katja Mikhailovich, Jodie Fisher, Ray Lovett, Kerry Arabena, John Van den Dungen, Jilpia Nappaljari Jones, Leila Smith, Jo Victoria, and Graham Henderson

Publisher

Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service

Publication date

2007

Rights notice

Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher

File

Winnunga_Prison_Health_Report_2007-2-pdf.pdf

Link

https://winnunga.org.au/publications/research-projects/

Project information

Project ownerNot listed

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Community / Language group(s)

Project contact(s)

https://winnunga.org.au/contact-us/

Researcher(s)

Nerelle Poroch
Julie Tongs
Peter Sharp
Mick Dodson
Steve Larkin
Katja Mikhailovich
Jodie Fisher
Ray Lovett
Kerry Arabena
John Van den Dungen
Jilpia Nappaljari Jones
Leila Smith
Jo Victoria
Graham Henderson

Supporting partner(s)

Complete

Start date

Not listed

End dateNot listed

Topic(s)

Closing the Gap focus

Funder(s)

Organisation(s)

Indigenous involvement

Indigenous involvement notes

Four participants from The Connection, three community members, and four Winnunga Aboriginal Health Workers attended a one-day training course in co-research techniques. The Connection is an organization administered by Aboriginal ex-drug users for Aboriginal users. (The participation of its members in the study has provided future opportunities for capacity building in staff training cadetships). The community members have experience of family members’ incarceration, and the Winnunga staff were able to draw from their experience as community Health Workers. The Winnunga Health Workers were instrumental in the success of the interviewing process in suggesting that community members be trained as Co-researchers, firstly to provide a safe and trusting interview environment in partnership with the non-Aboriginal researcher, and secondly because of their potential to contact interviewees...For this study it involved the Aboriginal Co-researchers participating in a one-day training session and the researcher subsequently working interactively with the Co-researchers. The Co-researchers’ experience of the prison environment was first-hand and profound, and this resulted in knowledge and skills being transferred in both directions. This was particularly significant in developing the interview and focus group questions. Best practice knowledge transfer approaches were also used which took into account cross-cultural complexity, Aboriginal knowledge systems, and understandings. A one-day Workshop involving the study partners was used to reflect on the study findings and recommendations.

Winnunga prison health study

Output(s)

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AIATSIS acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.