Indigenous health

Paul J Beggs · Alistair J Woodward · Kathryn Bowen

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

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

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

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

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)

Supriya Subramani

Geographic considerations are of crucial significance in dementia epidemiology, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Antonia J Clarke · Marwan Ahmed · Judith M Katzenellenbogen · John Towney (Wiradjuri) · Anna H Balabanski · Adrienne Withall (Dharawal Yuin) · Kylie Radford · Amy Brodtmann

Despite the improvement in cancer survival for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in the NT, the gap in survival outcomes for Aboriginal peoples persists. Further research is required on pathways to close the gap

Rowena Boyd · Michail Charakidis · C Paul Burgess · Sarah Dugdale · Craig Castillon (Jawoyn, Katherine Region, NT) · Dzulfikaar Sutandar · Alyson Wright

Targeted interventions based on further research are needed to reduce differences associated with social determinants of health

for the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Paediatric Study Group and Centre for Outcomes and Resource Evaluation

Culturally appropriate and more targeted medication safety services are required

Jean Spinks · Gabor Mihala · Warren Jennings · Robert S Ware · Lisa M Kalisch Ellett · Elizabeth E Roughead · Daniel Williamson

This work is an invitation to address the urgent systemic change required to safeguard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities on our terms

Felicity Collis (Gomeroi) · Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri)

Researchers, funding bodies and institutions should invest in communities to lead, control and govern their own research

Felicity Collis (Gomeroi) · Kade Booth · Jamie Bryant · Tanika Ridgeway (Worimi) · Catherine Chamberlain (Palawa) · Jaquelyne Hughes (Wagadagam) · Kalinda E Griffiths (Yawuru) · Mark Wenitong (Kabi Kabi) · Peter O'Mara (Wiradjuri) · Alex Brown (Yuin) · Sandra J Eades (Noongar) · Kelvin M Kong (Worimi) · Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri)