Current Projects

Girraween Lagoon, Northern Territory

Image: Working with Larrakia Indigenous Rangers at Girraween Lagoon, Northern Territory (Project: ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage)


CABAH Indigenous STEM Project

The Indigenous STEM project is a partnership project between CABAH and Tagai State College to improve the academic performance of Indigenous students in STEM education. The project involves 1600+ Prep to Year 12 Indigenous students across seventeen schools in remote area of Australia.

Contact Professor Martin Nakata


Addressing the gap between policy and implementation

Strategies for improving educational outcomes of Indigenous students

The study is a partnership between five universities to identify best practice and opportunities for change inside universities and other higher education providers to identify the factors that are either facilitators or barriers to successful completion of study for Indigenous students. The project aims to trial strategies to improve recruitment, retention and successful completions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education.

Contact Associate Professor Felecia Watkin


ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage

This ARC Centre of Excellence undertakes research to safeguard our national heritage, transform research culture, connect with communities, and inform policy. It aims to inspire Australian children to engage in science and connecting with the broader Australian and global community through a comprehensive research program. It also aims to equip future generations of researchers with a range of interdisciplinary skills, and implement initiatives to nurture the careers of Indigenous and female researchers.

Related Link: https://epicaustralia.org.au/

Contact Professor Martin Nakata


CQI in Social and Emotional Wellbeing Flagship Project

This project aims to investigate the effectiveness of CQI approaches in the Family Wellbeing Program.

Contact Professor Komla Tsey


Deaths in young people involved in the youth justice system

Towards evidence-based prevention

The aim of this study is to better understand the incidence, timing, causes, context and risk factors for preventable death in young people from profoundly marginalised groups within the Australian youth justice system. Young Indigenous people as a group are over-represented in this system by a factor of 17. To achieve the aim of the study, the identities of all youth justice clients in Queensland 1993-2014 will be linked with adult correctional records, the National Death Index and the National Coroners Information System. Preventive interventions and proposed policy reforms will be identified through a Delphi panel process.

Contact Professor Yvonne Cadet-James


Evaluating the CQI approach for program impact and diversification of the Remote Management Program

A feasibility study

This project aims to evaluate a remote management program through using CQI approach to measuring impact.

Contact Leigh-Ann Onnis


Meriba buay - ngalpan wakaythoemamy (we come together to think)

Evaluating a Torres Strait Research Community of Practice

In this project we aim to identify and describe processes involved in developing and implementing a Community of Practice (CoP) that focuses on the social determinants of health and wellbeing for Torres Strait Islanders; monitors and evaluates the Knowledge Translation (KT) capacity of the CoP members and KT impact in the community; and evaluates how a CoP model can best assist Torres Strait Islander researchers, communities and organisation to build high quality, decision-linked and relevant health research.

Contact Associate Professor Felecia Watkin


Sustainable implementation of Indigenous early childhood family support programs that work

A Family Wellbeing (FWB) case study

This project aims to investigate how the Family Wellbeing Program can be sustainable through implementation in family support programs and services and analysis of social return on investment.

Contact Professor Yvonne Cadet-James


Women's Action for Mums and Bubs (WOMB)

A pragmatic trial of participatory women's groups to improve Indigenous maternal and child health

There is strong evidence elsewhere that involving community women in decision-making about strategies to improve the health of mothers and babies is a cheap and effective way of improving health. The WOMB study works in collaboration with service and community partners to explore whether community women's groups improve the quality of maternal and child health care and outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the cost-effectiveness and mechanism of action.

Related Link: Women's action for Mums and Bubs (WOMB)

Contact Professor Sarah Larkins or Associate Professor Catrina Felton-Busch