Taking the next steps: Informing the transformation of the research sector to respond to Aboriginal research priorities and ways of conducting research.

Start date
Research partner(s)
Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia

Aboriginal health research in South Australia is guided by Next Steps for Aboriginal Health Research and the South Australian Aboriginal Health Research Accord (ACCORD).

Both documents were developed with extensive community and sector consultation and Next Steps in partnership by the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia (AHCSA) and the Wardliparingga Aboriginal Health Equity Theme of South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).

Next Steps identified 30 Aboriginal research priorities through an audit of 212 research ethics applications submitted to the Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee (AHREC) between 2010-2014, interviews with ACCHOs and Aboriginal Health Advisory Committees and a consensus workshop.

ACCORD outlines nine principles for doing research the right way with Aboriginal people. Signatories to the ACCORD are the three SA universities, AHCSA, Council of Aboriginal Elders of SA and SAHMRI. Next Steps recommendations and ACCORD principles will form the framework for Aims 1 and 2.

Aim 1: To assess the capability of the health and medical research sector to respond to Aboriginal-informed research priorities and ways to conduct research. This will be achieved by:

  • a custom designed survey for ACCHO staff and state government partners. We will collect demographic information and ask questions like, are you aware of research on this topic (n=30), using a 7 item Agreement scale has this topic been addressed, is it a current priority, and free text questions. Answers will be aggregated and proportions, mode and frequency by graphic visualisation and themes will be stratified by demographic characteristics where appropriate and reported,
  • audit of AHREC applications (2014-2021, n=400). Questions will include, what was the primary focus and location of the research, description of the research participants, governance, community engagement and processes, Aboriginal leadership and intention to build Aboriginal capacity,
  • interviews with AHREC and the state departmental health ethics committees to garner their views on the conduct of Aboriginal research in SA (n=10),
  • workshop with the research sector to discuss enablers and barriers to addressing Next Steps research priorities and implementing the ACCORD principles.

All results will be synthesised for a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of Aboriginal health research and how it has been conducted in SA since Next Steps and the ACCORD.

Aim 2: To identify the capacity development needs of the health and medical research sector to respond to Aboriginal informed research priorities and conduct. This will be achieved in a workshop with the research sector including members of state ethics committees. Based on the results of Aim 1, strategies to guide, support and develop the research sector will be defined.

This project will lead to a health and medical research sector that is more aware of how to conduct research effectively with Aboriginal communities and will provide a roadmap for strengthening the sectors ability to respond to Aboriginal priorities using Aboriginal principles for conducting research. 

An aware and capable sector will result in the Aboriginal community experiencing greater benefits from research.

Output(s)

There are no listed outputs for this project.