Remote Australia Online

Standard Australian reading assessment tests are criticized for being culturally inappropriate for use with Australian Indigenous children, particularly for those living in remote and very remote regions, as these tests are culturally biased towards mainstream Australian culture and imperceptive to Indigenous knowledge, language, concepts, and contexts. Based on an established understanding of the relationship between reading acquisition and visual perceptual development, we sought to examine the visuospatial processing ability of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children to determine whether visuospatial tasks that measure dorsal and ventral processing - two key visual processes associated with reading - can provide an indicative measure of reading aptitude across cultures, independent of reading ability. Using a coherent motion task to test dorsal processing we found that dorsal processes develop similarly for age-matched Indigenous and non-Indigenous children (Study 1) and appear to facilitate early reading acquisition for both cultural groups, independent of age (Study 2 and subsequent analyses). Together, these results suggest that while dorsal processes may facilitate reading, reading is not necessary to facilitate dorsal development. Additionally, using a coherent form task to test ventral processing, we found an interactive association between ventral development and reading acquisition, particularly for non-Indigenous children. In interpreting these findings, we discuss possible cultural factors that may explain development of dorsal and ventral processes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, and why a relationship between ventral processing and reading acquisition was not evident for Indigenous children. We also consider the potential for scaffolding literacy learning for Indigenous children based on neurocognitive strengths.

The tour to the NT in October last year lived up to every expectation and surpassed many. We explored midwifery from the Mindil beach birthing practices of the Larrakia people, through to urban health care at Royal Darwin Hospital which is also the referral centre for the top end and WA. Outside of urban life we were introduced to the complexities of maternity care and services in remote communities such as Jabiru in Kakadu. Katherine was a mix of urban and remote with hospital services and a dedicated community practice with specific outreach services for outlying communities. The tour was completed with a visit to the Tiwi Islands where we were made welcome with a “welcoming ceremony” before learning more about the challenges of providing health care when access is by boat or plane only.

There has been a growing demand on developments in remote areas. Apart from enjoying the associated benefits, architectural, construction and engineering (AEC) firms also face unique challenges to manage remote construction projects. This study adopted a case study approach to investigate the challenges and strategies of managing remote projects. The results showed that human resources, material supply and communication present most significant issues in remote construction projects. To overcome these issues, contractors are encouraged to engage local trades and suppliers. These results provide a useful reference to industry practitioners to manage remote projects.

Introduction The Banned Drinker Register (BDR) was reintroduced in the Northern Territory (NT) in September 2017. The BDR is a supply reduction measure and involves placing people who consume alcohol at harmful levels on a register prohibiting the purchase, possession and consumption of alcohol. The current study aims to evaluate the impacts of the reintroduction of the BDR, in the context of other major alcohol policy initiatives introduced across the NT such as Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors and a minimum unit price for alcohol of US$1.30 per standard drink.Methods and analyses The Learning from Alcohol (policy) Reforms in the Northern Territory project will use a mixed-methods approach and contain four major components: epidemiological analysis of trends over time (outcomes include health, justice and social welfare data); individual-level data linkage including those on the BDR (outcomes include health and justice data); qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the NT (n≥50); and qualitative interviews among people who are, or were previously, on the BDR, as well as the families and communities connected to those on the BDR (n=150). The impacts of the BDR on epidemiological data will be examined using time series analysis. Linked data will use generalised mixed models to analyse the relationship between outcomes and exposures, utilising appropriate distributions. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approvals have been obtained from NT Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), Central Australia HREC and Deakin University HREC. In addition to peer-reviewed publications, we will report our findings to key organisational, policy, government and community stakeholders via conferences, briefings and lay summaries.

Young people are poised on the brink of maturity, of arriving at a life stage in which they are best able to contribute to the wellbeing of humankind or to do it great harm. Thus, it is vital that the challenges and possibilities of adolescence be well understood and addressed. In Australia, such understanding is most urgently needed with respect to Aboriginal youths. Not only must they adjust to their changing bodies and minds (e.g. Tanner 1990; Casey 2015), but, as Ute Eickelkamp (2011, 9) has observed, ‘they need to cope with racism, discrimination, cultural insecurities, intergenerational trauma and the socioeconomic marginal status of their families’. They are also required to do all this in the complexity of intercultural environments that we argue must be included in our ethnography if we are to understand the challenges and achievements of these young people. Thanks to scholars like Merlan (1998, 2005) and Hinkson and Smith (2005), the recently rediscovered concept ‘intercultural’ (Vogt and Albert 1966) has provided a useful assist for portraying the circumstances in which Australian Aboriginal people live. We see an ‘intercultural’ space as a social environment constructed largely by the sustained interaction of at least two distinct populations, each of which brings to the interaction an ethos and associated identity derived from ‘different forms of experience, knowing and practice’ (Merlan 2005, 174). Due to their different histories and the consequent inequalities of knowledge, wealth and status, the respective bearers of these different traditions, may, as is clearly the case between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, have more or less power over others, and themselves, in this space. The difficulties of Aboriginal youth, we cannot help but assume, arise, in large part, from their often disadvantaged positions in these intercultural interactions. However, it is not cultures that meet, but individuals (Vogt and Albert 1966, 61), and individuals invariably have varied experiences, however much shared their histories may be. Thus, it is these individual experiences that are created by, and brought to, intercultural encounters. We also recognise that each of the communities represented in this collection has arisen from a distinct series of intercultural encounters and events, and each occupies a different physical and social environment. Many of these responses, as demonstrated in the following chapters, are grounded in resilience and adaptability, and are ones in which young people uniquely draw upon their skills in both the traditional and globalised world (see also Allen et al. 2014). This collection presents accounts of youths as individuals, or as part of groups, coming of age, and engaged in and accompanied by positive and negative experience in various intercultural spaces.

Food insecurity disproportionately impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This review sought to investigate research and evaluations of programs and interventions implemented to address food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. A rapid review was conducted to collate the available research from 6 databases. The search was conducted in May 2020. Search constructs related to food insecurity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and Australia. Twenty-five publications were included in this review, 24 reported on an intervention, while 9 were evaluations of an intervention. Interventions included behaviour change projects, including projects that sought to change purchasing and cooking behaviours, school-based education programs, and gardening programs. In general, the studies included in this sample were small and lacked a systematic consideration of the factors that shape the experience of food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people specifically. Based on the findings of this review, authors suggest greater consideration to the systematic determinants of food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to have lasting and sustainable impact on food insecurity. This review has been registered with the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO: CRD42020183709). Novelty: Food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people poses significant risk to health and wellbeing. Small-scale food security interventions may not provide ongoing and sustained impact. Any intervention to promote food security will need to involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and be sustained once external parties have left.

This chapter explores post-capitalist development alternatives that are emerging in remote Australia for Indigenous peoples who have repossessed their ancestral lands. My exploration is based on over 40 years of research as an economic anthropologist/comparative economist exploring development alternatives. I deploy a grounded model of actually existing economies that I term ‘the hybrid economy’ to illustrate how through their agency Indigenous landowners are creatively reconfiguring and recombining elements of capitalist and non-capitalist forms of production. Customs and traditions that need to be legally demonstrated to secure landownership are being activated in pursuit of diverse livelihoods that include self-provisioning, the controlled commodification of culture and the production of environmental services, including carbon emissions avoidance and sequestration, and renewable energy mega-projects. The hybrid economy theorisation challenges the envisioning of capitalism as the singular dominant mode of economy and might yet prove a harbinger of post-capitalist futures essential for Indigenous and non-Indigenous survival.

Background: Health services research is a well-articulated research methodology and can be a powerful vehicle to implement sustainable health service reform. This paper presents a summary of a five-year collaborative program between stakeholders and researchers that led to sustainable improvements in the maternity services for remote-dwelling Aboriginal women and their infants in the Top End (TE) of Australia. Methods: A mixed-methods health services research program of work was designed, using a participatory approach. The study area consisted of two large remote Aboriginal communities in the Top End of Australia and the hospital in the regional centre (RC) that provided birth and tertiary care for these communities. The stakeholders included consumers, midwives, doctors, nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers (AHW), managers, policy makers and support staff. Data were sourced from: hospital and health centre records; perinatal data sets and costing data sets; observations of maternal and infant health service delivery and parenting styles; formal and informal interviews with providers and women and focus groups. Studies examined: indicator sets that identify best care, the impact of quality of care and remoteness on health outcomes, discrepancies in the birth counts in a range of different data sets and ethnographic studies of ‘out of hospital’ or health centre birth and parenting. A new model of maternity care was introduced by the health service aiming to improve care following the findings of our research. Some of these improvements introduced during the five-year research program of research were evaluated. Results: Cost effective improvements were made to the acceptability, quality and outcomes of maternity care. However, our synthesis identified system-wide problems that still account for poor quality of infant services, specifically, unacceptable standards of infant care and parent support, no apparent relationship between volume and acuity of presentations and staff numbers with the required skills for providing care for infants, and an ‘outpatient’ model of care. Services were also characterised by absent Aboriginal leadership and inadequate coordination between remote and tertiary services that is essential to improve quality of care and reduce ‘system-introduced’ risk. onclusion: Evidence-informed redesign of maternity services and delivery of care has improved clinical effectiveness and quality for women. However, more work is needed to address substandard care provided for infants and their parents.

This study aimed to explore the association between hyperglycemia in pregnancy (type 2 diabetes (T2D) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)) and child developmental risk in Europid and Aboriginal women. PANDORA is a longitudinal birth cohort recruited from a hyperglycemia in pregnancy register, and from normoglycemic women in antenatal clinics. The Wave 1 substudy included 308 children who completed developmental and behavioral screening between age 18 and 60 months. Developmental risk was assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) or equivalent modified ASQ for use with Aboriginal children. Emotional and behavioral risk was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between developmental scores and explanatory variables, including maternal T2D in pregnancy or GDM. After adjustment for ethnicity, maternal and child variables, and socioeconomic measures, maternal hyperglycemia was associated with increased developmental “concern” (defined as score ≥1 SD below mean) in the fine motor (T2D odds ratio (OR) 5.30, 95% CI 1.77–15.80; GDM OR 3.96, 95% CI 1.55–10.11) and problem-solving (T2D OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.05–6.98; GDM OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.17–5.54) domains, as well as increased “risk” (score ≥2 SD below mean) in at least one domain (T2D OR 5.33, 95% CI 1.85–15.39; GDM OR 4.86, 95% CI 1.95–12.10). Higher maternal education was associated with reduced concern in the problem-solving domain (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.11–0.69) after adjustment for maternal hyperglycemia. Maternal hyperglycemia is associated with increased developmental concern and may be a potential target for intervention so as to optimize developmental trajectories.

Over three years, a $12 million Commonwealth funded consortium project implemented energy efficiency initiatives in six remote Indigenous communities. An ecological community-based participatory action research design that utilized qualitative and quantitative research approaches in a multiple methods design was employed to clarify how Yolŋu use power, to identify the barriers and enablers of Yolŋu using power wisely, and to evaluate the project. 16 Indigenous co-researchers conducted 125 in-depth qualitative interviews with community members across the six communities in the local languages. The principal non-Indigenous researcher also conducted 24 in-depth qualitative interviews with relevant non-Indigenous community members. All interviews were transcribed and systematically analysed using a combination of content, thematic and narrative analysis strategies. This culturally responsive research design provided the opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members to disclose their perspectives authentically. The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that house designs used in remote communities are inappropriate for the tropical climate and for the Australian Indigenous culture and society. Additionally, the housing situation has culminated in overcrowding. The holistic and critical perspective employed identified that climatically and culturally inappropriate housing, and insufficient housing and overcrowding are key contributors to power being used inefficiently and to a myriad of intertwined challenges faced by Indigenous people in remote communities, such as chronic disease, depression, conflict, employment and school attendance. Together, these issues are undermining and challenging the strength and resilience of Indigenous people, harming the very culture that might hold the key to our survival.

Crusted scabies is characterised by thick skin crusting and fissuring and can lead to serious secondary infections and death from complications. Rates of crusted scabies in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT) are among the highest in the world. Efforts are on the way in Australia to prevent, if not eliminate, crusted scabies. We use data from a clinical audit of 42 patients diagnosed with crusted scabies in the Top-End of the NT to estimate the health system costs associated with diagnosing, treating and managing crusted scabies for patients and their households. This cost of illness study can provide a valuable starting point for policy makers and evaluators in estimating the potential economic impact of crusted scabies prevention programs on health care service use and costs.

Designing across cultures requires considerable attention to inter-relational design methods that facilitate mutual exploration, learning and trust. Many Western design practices have been borne of a different model, utilizing approaches for the design team to rapidly gain insight into “users” in order to deliver concepts and prototypes, with little attention paid to different cultural understandings about being, knowledge, participation and life beyond the design project. This paper describes a project that intends to create and grow a sustainable set of technology assisted communication practices for the Warnindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt in the form of digital noticeboards. Rather than academic practices of workshops, interviews, probes or theoretical discourses that emphasize an outside-in perspective, we emphasize building upon the local designs and practices. Our team combines bilingual members from the local Land Council in collaboration with academics from a remote urban university two thousand kilometers away. We contribute an approach of growing existing local practices and materials digitally in order to explore viable, innovative and sustainable technical solutions from this perspective.

Objective: An analysis of food and physical activity environments in relation to socioeconomic disadvantage was conducted in 25 communities across Queensland, Australia. Methods: Physical activity and food environments were assessed in 25 Queensland communities using The Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) and the Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey (NEMS). Spearman's correlation tested the association between physical activity and food environments and degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage of each region. Results: A significant negative association was observed between the supermarket food environment and degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage. All regions have a moderately supportive environment for physical activity. Food availability and price varied in supermarkets with more remote communities having less supportive food environments. Conclusions: Areas with a high degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage were more likely to experience disadvantages in the physical activity, supermarket, and restaurant food environments than metropolitan areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Implications for public health: Socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness were associated with reduced supportiveness of the built environment hindering the ability of consumers to make healthy food and physical activity choices. Improving the food and physical activity environments in these areas may assist in reducing the health inequalities experienced by these communities.

Background Red blood cell (RBC) membrane-associated blood group systems are clinically significant. Alloimmunisation is a persistent risk associated with blood transfusion owing to the antigen polymorphisms among these RBC-associated blood groups. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) offers an opportunity to characterize the blood group variant profile of a given individual. Australia comprises a large multiethnic population where most blood donors are Caucasian and blood group variants remain poorly studied among Indigenous Australians. In this study, we focused on the Tiwi Islanders, who have lived in relative isolation for thousands of years. Methods and materials We predicted the blood group phenotype profiles in the Tiwi (457) and 1000 Genomes Phase 3 (1KGP3-2504) cohort individuals using RBCeq (https://www.rbceq.org/). The predicted phenotype prevalence was compared with the previous literature report. Results We report, for the first time, comprehensive blood group profiles corresponding to the 35 known blood group systems among the Indigenous Tiwi islander population and identify possible novel antigen variants therein. Our results demonstrate that the genetic makeup of the Tiwi participants is distinct from that of other populations, with a low prevalence of LU (Au[a-b+]) and ABO (A2) and D+C+c+E+e- phenotype, an absence of Diego blood group variants, and a unique RHD (DIII type4) variant. Conclusion Our results may contribute to the development of a database of predicted phenotype donors among the Tiwi population and aid in improving transfusion safety for the ~2800 Tiwi people and the ~800,000 other Indigenous Australians throughout the nation.

The practicum has long been acknowledged as a memorable aspect of a student’s professional learning in social work education. In rural, regional and remote settings, the opportunities for such learning can be limited as agencies may be operating in a climate of considerable economic constraint and staffing difficulties. In response to the demand for social work placements in these areas, universities often place students in agencies where no social worker is employed and, as a consequence, require an off-site social work supervisor to support the student on placement. This paper reflects on off-site social work student supervision in rural Australia, considers the functions of this form of supervision, and the benefits and challenges for the supervisor. It outlines the findings from a co-operative inquiry, recommending clear contracting of roles and expectations in the initial stages.

Objective Ear disease in rural and remote communities is occurring at high rates, with limited access to health services and health providers contributing to the problem. Community pharmacists are well-placed to provide expanded services to improve ear health in rural communities. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility, accessibility and acceptability of a pharmacist-led intervention for ear disease in consumers presenting to community pharmacy.Design Prospective preintervention and postintervention mixed-methods study. An ethnographic lens of rural culture was applied to the descriptive qualitative component of the study.Setting Two rural community pharmacies in Queensland, Australia.Participants People aged 6 months or older, who present with an ear complaint to a participating community pharmacy.Intervention LISTEN UP (Locally Integrated Screening and Testing Ear aNd aUral Programme) is a community pharmacy-based intervention to improve the management of ear health. Trained pharmacists conducted ear examinations using otoscopy and tympanometry on consumers following a LISTEN UP protocol. They made recommendations including no treatment, pharmacy only products or general practitioner (GP) referral. Consumers were contacted 7 days later for follow-up.Results 55 rural consumers participated in the study. The most commonly reported complaints were ‘blocked ear’ and ‘ear pain’. Pharmacists recommended over-the-counter products to two-thirds of the participants and referred one quarter to a GP. 90% (50/55) of the consumers were highly satisfied with the service and would recommend the service. All consumers described the service positively with particular reference to convenience, improved confidence and appreciation of the knowledge gained about their ear complaint. Pharmacists were motivated to upskill and manage workflow to incorporate the service and expected both consumers and GPs to be more accepting of future expanded services as a result of LISTEN UP. However, without funding to provide the service, during the study other remunerated pharmacy tasks took priority over providing LISTEN UP.Conclusion Rural community pharmacists can provide an acceptable and accessible ear health service; however, it is not feasible without a clear funding structure to provide resources including additional pharmacists, equipment and training.Trial registration number ACTRN12620001297910.The authors welcome any correspondence or requests for further details about this study. The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. NA.

Community disadvantage and a person's residential geographical location are believed to be risk factors for crime. This research aimed to go beyond examining individual-level risk factors for reincarceration and explored the impact of community disadvantage and residential geographical location on Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples? risk of reincarceration post-release. Descriptive analyses, logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were conducted using survey and linked administrative data for 1238 prisoners. We found no relationship between residential geographical location and reincarceration for either Indigenous or non-Indigenous people. Moreover, no relationship between community disadvantage and reincarceration was found for non-Indigenous people, however, results indicated community disadvantage to be a protective factor for Indigenous people. Potential explanation for this perplexing finding is discussed, as are potential implications for how we view and measure community disadvantage for Australian Indigenous people.

T he translation of traditional Western Desert iconography, narrative conventions and ceremonial aesthetics into the medium of acrylic painting, and onto the emergent plane of 'Aboriginal Art', has been among the great artistic achievements of the modern era. Despite the wealth of scholarship dedicated to this phenomenon, key aspects of it remain obscured in anthropological and art historical analysis. Based on fieldwork in the Australian Western Desert community of Balgo, this thesis develops an ethnographic account of how 'Country' is created through abstraction, kin-based processes of transmission, and the economics of art. Combining methodologies from anthropology and art history, this research seeks to develop an appreciation of Western Desert abstraction as a socio-cultural process. Abstraction is treated not merely as a particular kind of distilled formalism that resonates visually with 20th Century Western art historical and critical notions, but as a conceptual and creative process linked to a deconstruction of form and reconfiguration of meaning. In Balgo art these processes have resulted in the iconographic forms of the desert graphic system being superseded by other aesthetic features of that same system, particularly the practice of 'dotting'. This thesis analyses the development of dotting and other technical innovations into 'styles', and explores how these styles have in turn become an object of exchange and contestation within Balgo. The thesis also grapples with another significant, and related, gap in the anthropological literature: that of the economic contexts around acrylic painting. While Aboriginal art is widely acknowledged as part of an economic system, the forms on canvas or bark are rarely analysed as themselves implicated in, responsive to and expressive of fields of economic influence and motivation. In order to move beyond the dominant ritual-oriented interpretations of desert painting, this research frames painting as a form of Aboriginal labour. I treat art as work. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the work of art, the thesis affords new interpretations around the novel forms on canvas as crystallizations of human action, as objectifications of value and the social processes that create it. In uniting the aesthetic and economic aspects of my analysis, I build a portrait of the way style develops between people who share camps and other resources. I show how the innovations and abstractions pioneered by individuals become sedimented in culture as tradition through processes of intergenerational transmission. In this context, as objectifications of practices of sharing and co-residence, the forms of acrylic Country in Balgo art can be understood not as representational, but as Country itself. Country in the form of acrylic dots, styles, entire paintings, or the relationship between paintings, is an embodiment or objectification of Aboriginal value that can be exchanged both within Balgo (between kin) and without (through the market) in the creation of other kinds of value. Through localised kin-based transmission of painting style and redistribution of artistic income, Balgo artists have recalibrated acrylic 'Country' as the customary basis of their economic autonomy

A one-year mathematics project that focused on measurement was conducted with six Torres Strait Islander schools and communities. Its key focus was to contextualise the teaching and learning of measurement within the students' culture, communities and home languages. Six teachers and two teacher aides participated in the project. This paper reports on the findings from the teachers' and teacher aides' survey questionnaire used in the first Professional Development session to identify: a) teachers' experience of teaching in the Torres Strait Islands, b) teachers' beliefs about effective ways to teach Torres Strait Islander students, and c) contexualising measurement within Torres Strait Islander culture, communities and home languages. A wide range of differing levels of knowledge and understanding about how to contextualise measurement to support student learning were identified and analysed. For example, an Indigenous teacher claimed that mathematics and the environment are relational, that is, they are not discrete and in isolation from one another, rather they interconnect with mathematical ideas emerging from the environment of the Torres Strait communities.

The Australian construction industry has similar characteristics to many construction industries around the world. However, Australia’s construction industry needs to service a country with a large percentage of remote and isolated areas. These remote and isolated areas have recently seen major demand for construction works in a large part due to the current resources boom. Remote construction projects introduce many challenges not witnessed in urbanized locations. Therefore, this research aims to identify the main challenges facing Australian construction contractors in remote locations. Construction projects in general are complex and require a high degree of management. In remote areas this is seen as being intensified. Hence, this research sets out to highlight the contributing factors to the problem. It surveyed industry practitioners in relation to construction in remote areas. Likert and ranking scale methods were used in questionnaires with 75 returned. The results were analysed and discussed based on measuring collective participant response to the issues. The findings confirmed that there are major challenges associated with remote construction activity. Significant issues were found to reside within the areas of human resources, production, cost management, infrastructure and communications. Some reasoning of issues and courses of action were also offered. Remote construction activity within Australia is expected to further increase in coming years so it is hoped that the findings will be useful to industry practitioners. Whilst the research is based within the Australian construction industry the findings are thought to relate to other countries and industries facing similar challenges in the geographical context

Customary and commercial use of wildlife supports millions of Indigenous people world-wide. However, in Australia, despite there being abundant natural resources and intricate Aboriginal ecological knowledge, there are relatively few financially viable Aboriginal wildlife-based enterprises. This research provides an example of how the Collective Impact (CI) Framework was used to retrospectively analyse the development of an Aboriginal enterprise in the Northern Territory of Australia over a fifteen-year period. We identified many parallels between the elements of the CI approach and the various development phases of this Aboriginal enterprise. This research demonstrates that there is a complex interplay of factors that influence the development of Indigenous enterprise in remote communities of northern Australia, and that the CI Framework can be useful for reflecting on this work because of its focus on collaboration with diverse stakeholders. It contributes to knowledge about the benefits and the difficulties of meaningful whole of community engagement as a core aspect of enterprise development.

Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian students is a key strategy to helping Indigenous people reach their full potential. This has resulted in well-intentioned efforts by Australian educators and governments to ensure Indigenous children have positive school experiences. However, Indigenous students still lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in educational outcomes. This is particularly so for Indigenous students living in rural and remote parts of Australia where educational opportunities are limited, especially in high school. One solution to this problem has been to enrol these students in boarding schools in urban and metropolitan centres. While research on the success of boarding schools for Indigenous students is scarce, what little that does exist is not encouraging. The focus of this research was to examine the effects of boarding for Indigenous (n = 11) and non-Indigenous students' (n = 158) wellbeing (N = 1423) in two large private boys' schools. Participating students aged 12-18 years old completed a survey measuring wellbeing constructs on two occasions, 12 months apart. Non-Indigenous boys were generally higher in wellbeing compared with Indigenous boys. There was also evidence of improved social wellbeing beyond that of non-Indigenous boarders over time. Overall, while evidence of merit was weak, boarding schools may benefit their Indigenous students' development in social wellbeing.

Introduction The Lililwan Project was the first Australian population-based prevalence study of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) using active case ascertainment. Conducted in 2010–2011, the study included 95% of all eligible children aged 7–9 years living in the very remote Aboriginal communities of the Fitzroy Valley, Western Australia. Women from Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre, a local Aboriginal-led organisation, are concerned that some participants from the study are struggling in adolescence so partnered with researchers from the University of Sydney to follow up the Lililwan cohort in 2020–2022 at age 17–19 years.The overarching aim of the Bigiswun Kid Project is to identify adolescents’ needs and build knowledge to inform services to improve the health and well-being of adolescents in remote Aboriginal communities. The specific aims are to: (1) provide a voice to adolescents and their families to understand the health and well-being status of the Lililwan cohort at 17–19 years. (2) Examine relationships between exposures during pregnancy, birth characteristics, and health and neurodevelopment at 7–9 years, and positive/adverse adolescent outcomes at 17–19 years. This information will identify prenatal and early life factors that predict good health and well-being in adolescence. (3) Determine whether management plans provided in the Lililwan Project were followed, and identify past and present service gaps, support needs and barriers to service use. (4) Determine if key physical characteristics of FASD change between childhood and adolescence in this Aboriginal population.Ethics and dissemination Approved by the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Planning Forum and relevant ethics committees.

Recruiting and retaining professionals such as doctors, allied health professionals and teachers to rural communities has been a significant issue in Australia for decades. Research has established that a successful rural clinical placement can significantly influence a graduate’s work location choices. However, less is known about the factors that support or discourage a student’s engagement with rural clinical placement opportunities. This research project used semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to understand the factors experienced by Curtin Medical School’s first cohort as they engaged with the opportunity to undertake a rural clinical placement. The project identified several motivators and barriers which will enable the Medical School to modify and adapt processes for future students. The problematic barriers specific to undergraduate students are identified and warrant an appropriate plan for managing those obstacles. This research will form part of a broader longitudinal tracking of the Curtin University medical graduates, to determine if the Curtin Medical School meets its stated objective to increase the number of graduates working in rural locations.

In this article, Michelle Bangarr shares the story of her educational journey. Michelle is the custodian for Country at Manmoyi, a homeland in West Arnhem Land. She shares her passion for homeland education and her aspirations for the future. Over recent years a lot of attention has been given to education for First Nations students living in remote communities. The quest for improved outcomes, better attendance, retention and year 12 completions disguises other perhaps more important issues. During the 1970s and 1980s the homeland movement—‘return to Country’ (House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, 1987)—created opportunities for many First Nations people to achieve a degree of self-determination. But schooling for homelands was treated differently to schooling in communities. People had to put a request to the Department of Education for a school in their homelands, and mostly homelands were offered a visiting teacher for two to three days per week. Local First Nations staff, as untrained ‘assistant teachers’ were expected to ensure that students completed their work in the teacher’s absence. Some training was offered through the Remote Area Teacher Education program. In 1990 there were 271 people enrolled in Diploma of Teaching courses, with the majority in Stage 1 (Batchelor College, 1991). Homeland learning centre programs were prioritised (First Year Students in the Batchelor College Remote Area Teacher Education Program, 1990). By 1992 the concept and language of RATE had all but disappeared in the discourse of Batchelor College documents, replaced with a greater emphasis on more mainstream higher education programs. While there is strong agreement that homeland centres need local teachers, achieving that goal is not so easy. Journal Editor, John Guenther talked with Michelle Bangarr at Manmoyi in late 2021 about her experiences of education. Michelle tells the story of her journey in education, from her homeland perspective.