Issues
Volume 223 Issue 1
Cover image credit: Uncle Paul’s walking stick against background of Seven Mile Beach and Cullunghutti, Yuin Nation Artist (Walking stick): Paul D Scott (Yuin) Photographer (Walking stick): Karina Sutcliffe Background photo: The Atlas of Photos/shutterstock.com
Editor’s choice
2025 Special Issue on Indigenous Health
We are very proud that this MJA Special Issue on Indigenous health — “Carving our path with spirit, strength and solidarity” — is the second to be edited by a team of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Guest Editors: Professor Pat Dudgeon (Bardi), Professor Jaquelyne Hughes (Wagadagam), Associate Professor Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri), Professor Kelvin Kong (Worimi), Professor Odette Pearson (Eastern Kuku‐Yalanji and Torres Strait Islander), and Associate Professor Paul Saunders (Biripi). This Special Issue consists of work led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and that underwent careful assessment, discussion, and guidance by the Guest Editors across all stages of the editorial and publication process. The final published articles reflect the care that went into this undertaking. The Editorial1 for this Special Issue is a reflective piece by the Guest Editors, where they examine the vision and impact of this issue. This year, as last,2 we received many more articles than could be accommodated in one issue, and we plan to publish additional articles from this Special Issue process later in the year. At the MJA, we understand the privilege that it is to publish articles from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers. We also understand that a journal like the MJA has a duty to acknowledge and address the imbalance of power that has led in the past to publication in the MJA being a hard and uncomfortable experience for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. As editors of this Journal, we have an ongoing commitment to ensuring that the MJA is a welcoming and respectful place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and their publications, and we look forward to receiving future submissions. For the MJA team, it has been an enormous privilege to work with the Guest Editors, and we thank them for their generosity in sharing their time and expertise. We are also very privileged to have on the cover of this Special Issue the powerful carving by Uncle Paul Scott that describes the issue's purpose (Box). His story is a reminder of a shared future: “a story of resilience, of shared journeys, and of walking together, side by side, with respect for each other and the land beneath our feet”. Box – Artist's story
on behalf of the <em>MJA</em> team
Perspective
Taking up the challenge of eliminating racism in health care through talking about race (and culture)
Transformative change cannot be enacted without challenging the workings of racial power, and health systems must adopt a broader antiracist strategy that engages with the structural and lived realities of race and racism
Chelsea J Watego · David Singh · Kevin Yow Yeh · Helena Kajlich · Saran Singh
Decolonising primary health care practice: a definition and its importance
This perspective reports on a highly collaborative research process through which a clear definition of decolonising primary health care practice in an Australian context has been developed, and how this can be applied
Tamara J Mackean · Kim O'Donnell · Juanita Sherwood · Shane D'Angelo · Madison Shakespeare · Cleone Wellington · Toby Freeman · Anna M Ziersch · Matt Fisher · Deborah A Askew · Judith M Dwyer · Annette J Browne · Fran Baum AO
Climate and environmental crisis: effects on ear and hearing health in Australia and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Otitis media is just one example of a common and serious childhood illness with economic, social and environmental risk factors on track to escalate with the effects of climate change
Georgia M Tongs (Wiradjuri) · Isabella Ludbrook · Jennifer H Martin · Robert Eisenberg · Kelvin M Kong (Worimi)
Core components of a best practice First Nations cancer coordinator role
The core elements of a First Nations cancer care coordination role developed by iterative yarning with First Nations stakeholders, audits of current care, and recommendations from existing patient coordinator programs
Mollie C Wilson · Marissa Mulcahy · Jennifer Philip · Brian H Le · Gail Garvey
Fulfilling First Nations health, cultural safety and equity accreditation standards in primary medical education: reflections from a First Nations desktop review team
An Aboriginal desktop review team evaluated the preliminary self-assessments of primary medical education providers to gauge how they are currently positioned to meet the new standards pertaining to First Nations health, cultural safety, and equity
Paul Saunders · Nicole Mercer · Maria Mackay · Ian Lee · Madelyne Hudson‐Buhagiar · Miriam Cavanagh · Emma Milliss · Melody Muscat · Kathleen Martin · Adam Shipp · Melissa Johnson · Belinda Gibb
Editorial
Indigenous Health Special Issue 2025: carving our path with spirit, strength and solidarity
The path forward is one where Indigenous voices are central, the knowledge and wisdom of Elders can guide the next generation, and Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing can be safely applied across an array of contexts
Paul Saunders (Biripi) · Pat Dudgeon (Bardi) · Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri) · Kelvin M Kong (Worimi) · Jaquelyne T Hughes (Wagadagam) · Odette Pearson (Eastern Kuku‐Yalanji and Torres Strait Islander)
Research
What do Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory value during the operation journey? A qualitative study
Integrating culturally informed, patient-centred care models that prioritise respect and trust building is essential to improving accessibility, experience and surgical outcomes
Edith B Waugh · Marita Hefler · Sophie Pascoe · Mark Mayo · Matthew JL Hare · David A Story · Neil Wilkshire · Peter Henwood · David Croker · Jampijinpa Ross
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on the National Lung Cancer Screening Program: a qualitative study from Worimi and Awabakal country
The NLCSP provides a timely opportunity to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, it is critical that the program is tailored to the needs of each community and upholds rights to self-determination to be successful
Tanika L Ridgeway (Worimi) · Kayden Roberts‐Barker (Wiradjuri) · Kade Booth · Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri)
Am I on the list? Clinician‐reported factors for kidney transplantation non‐waitlisting among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with kidney failure: a cross‐sectional study
Transplantation equity requires a prioritised investment in system and quality improvements, from enhanced referral and assessment pathways to optimising all elements of care and ongoing accountability measures
Stephen P McDonald AM · Katie Cundale · Christopher E Davies · Kelli Karrikarringka Owen (Kaurna, Nharangga, and Ngarrindjeri) · Kerry Dole · Feruza Kholmurodova · Matilda D’Antoine (Paakantyi) · Jaquelyne T Hughes (Wagadagam)
Dialysis care in Australia: a call for reform and innovation
Dharshana Sabanayagam · Angela Makris · Frederika Sciberras · Nicole J Scholes‐Robertson · Germaine Wong
Opportunities to improve surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma in Australia
Jess Howell · Jon D Emery · Stuart Roberts · Alexander J Thompson · Michael Ng · Jacob George · Barbara A Leggett · Edmund Tse · Bella Nguyen · Troy Combo · Alan J Wigg
No silver lining with health misinformation: argyria caused by intentional silver consumption
Luke Collins · Logesh Palanikumar · Stephen Bacchi
Health: a complex and intertwined problem
Virginia Barbour
A call to Indigenise occupational wellbeing
Maria M Raciti · Chontel Gibson
Fan‐first heat‐health protection
Angie Bone · Federico Tartarini · Ollie Jay
Hyperkalaemic cardiac arrest due to cream of tartar ingestion
Daniel Yee Lee Ng · Laksmi Govindasamy · Andrew Hughes · Hwee Min Lee