Yardhura Walani

"More communities are moving towards a future free from the harms caused by commercial to***co and ni****ne products."

New national survey findings show that comprehensive to***co control policies are continuing to drive smoking rates down, including among young people. Yardhura Walani Associate Professor Raglan Maddox and Distinguished Professor Emily Banks have shared their insights into factors that are driving the declining rates of smoking and e-cigarette usage.

While celebrating the successful reduction in to***co prevalence, A/Prof Maddox emphasised the importance of investing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-led, culturally safe approaches to reduce the burden of to***co-related harms.

Read the full article here - https://nceph.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/australias-smoking-rates-hit-historic-low-despite-illicit-to***co-concerns

Australia's smoking rates hit historic low despite illicit to***co concerns Australia’s smoking rate has reached its lowest level on record, with new results from the country’s most trusted national survey showing fewer people are smoking than ever before.

🎓Student Spotlight – Dr Claire Zammit 👩🏼‍🎓

Yardhura Walani is proud to celebrate the achievement of a member of our student cohort – Dr Claire Zammit, who recently completed her PhD! She explored the implementation of community-driven strategies in cervical screening and HPV collection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Claire worked with Yardhura Walani Associate Director Professor Lisa Whop on the Screen Your Way Project and sought to understand how self-collection and cervical cancer screening can be optimised through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations (ACCHOs) sector.

She found that community-led, culturally safe approaches to cervical screening increased screening participation and the overall experience of screening. . She also found that systemic barriers prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners and the ACCHO sector from working to their full potential.

Claire, who earned her PhD at the University of Melbourne, is continuing her work with the Yardhura Walani Cervical Cancer Elimination team and other cancer-related projects.

Claire’s work contributes to improvements in screening engagement and experiences. We’re excited to see her important research continue.

On this year’s National Day of Recognition, themed ‘𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘀, 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀’, we recognise the many journeys into the professions, the unique paths that our workforce follows throughout their careers, and the many ways they make a difference in their communities. While paths differ and ways of contributing vary, the workforce is united by a shared commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

📃 Read more about 2026 NDoR in our media release 1 here:https://naatsihwp.org.au/storage/media-release---ndor-2026.pdf
📃 Read more about how to celebrate 2026 NDoR in our media release 2 here:https://naatsihwp.org.au/storage/media-release-2---ndor-2026.pdf
🔗 Check out our website for more information and resources to help celebrate the day: https://naatsihwp.org.au/events/national-day-of-recognition-2026

A few weeks ago, Yardhura Walani researchers Dr Sarah Bourke and Ms Emma Spinks presented a poster at the Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting (CHARM).

Their presentation on embedding Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance in wellbeing research drew from the Where We Belong study led by Dr Sarah Bourke. Where We Belong is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led, designed, and governed research that focuses on what it means to belong, be well, and live a good life for Indigenous peoples living in cities. Sarah and Emma have been yarning with community from Canberra and Queanbeyan about their lived experiences of belonging and wellbeing in the city.

Sarah and Emma were also recipients of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Best Indigenous-led Research Poster Presentation. Huge congratulations to the team for this award!

If you live in Canberra or Queanbeyan and want to know more about the study and how to get involved, click here - https://yardhurawalani.com.au/where-we-belong-study/

📷Pictured: Dr Sarah Bourke and Ms Emma Spinks in front of their poster, and Ms Emma Spinks pictured with the ACT Minister for Health Ms Rachel Stephen-Smith.

Dr Christina Heris and Dr Christopher McKay of Yardhura Walani have received the 2026 Ray James Memorial Award, along with co-authors, for the research paper ‘Protective Factors Against e-Cigarette Use Among First Nations People Aged 16–24 in the Next Generation Youth Wellbeing Study’ published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

The Australian Health Promotion Association established the Ray James Memorial Award in 2009 to recognise excellence and innovation in health promotion research.

This research is part of the ‘Next Generation Youth Wellbeing Study’, a mixed-methods youth cohort study of First Nations adolescents from urban, rural and remote communities of Central Australia, WA and NSW, led by Prof Sandra Eades.

This paper explores potential protective factors associated with not va**ng among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents such as ni****ne-free norms and better mental health and wellbeing, including fewer experiences of racism and interactions with the justice system. The findings highlight the need for policies and programs must directly address va**ng and underlying structural factors, while promoting broader adolescent wellbeing through comprehensive, community-based approaches that centre family and culture.

This publication reflects a large collective effort between Community partners, peer researchers and many of the collaborating Next Gen research team from institutions across the country.

We also acknowledge and thank the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who participated in Next Generation and generously shared their time, experiences and perspectives, as well as the families and communities that supported the research.

Congratulations to Christina, Chris and fellow authors and award recipients - Simon Graham, Robyn Williams, Emily Banks, Aryati Yashadhana, Katiska Davis, Justine Whitby, Ted Fields, Michelle O'Leary, Rebecca Ivers, Bette Liu, Francine Eades, Lina Gubhaju, Tabassum Rahman, Grace Joshy, and Sandra Eades.

Read the research paper here - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39912122/

Voices of Resistance has been nominated for Best New Talent at the 2026 National Indigenous Music Awards 🎉❤️💛🖤🤍💙💚

Led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples and artists, Voices of Resistance is more than a song. It is part of Warraay Puthu, a youth-driven creative movement grounded in culture, sovereignty, storytelling and truth-telling.

This nomination recognises the leadership, creativity and collective voice of artists and young Mob standing together for healthier, stronger communities and a ni****ne-free future!

A song. A story. A call for change.

Watch the music video here - https://youtu.be/Aez5F3HNwcs?si=ChYxr0IJVy2xw_YW

****neFreeFuture

This NAIDOC week, Yardhura Walani is celebrating the over one hundred deadly community partners we work with. Yardhura Walani’s guiding principle is to be in service to Mob, and we can only achieve this through the deep community partnerships we have with communities, local governance groups, and health services across Australia. In the words of Yardhura Walani Director Fiona Cornforth, to all the communities we exist to serve:

“It is not possible to realise our vision without joining forces, to remind each other that it is the strength of our relationships and belonging, that achieves excellence every time. Our impact is your impact, not just because we Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers bring our families and communities into this Centre each day, but because we share in the journey together, as if no institutional walls exist, showing how this work was always meant to be done.”

A sincere thank you to all Mob who work with us and for placing your trust in us.

The Yardhura Walani Sestaman Team recently spent time on beautiful Palm Island, home to the Manbarra and Bwgcolman peoples, where the Heart of Australia truck was delivering heart and lung cancer CT scans as part of the new National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP), which began in July 2025.

Sestaman, meaning ‘to think’ in Mabuiag language, is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led study evaluating the Program. The Sestaman team have partnered with Palm Island Community Company (PICC) to better understand and define what success of the Program would look like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The study aims to improve NLCSP experiences and outcomes for Mob.

Learn more about the Sestaman study here - https://yardhurawalani.com.au/sestaman/

📷Pictured: Lisa Whop, Louise Mitchell and Frances Bligh-Alcibar pictured in front of Heart of Australia’s HEART 5 Truck

Recently, Yardhura Walani Research Fellow Dr Christina Heris (pictured here with Associate Professor Raglan Maddox from the To***co Free Program) was invited to speak at the Clear the Air Cancer Council WA’s "Va**ng and Beyond: Tackling Ni****ne Use Among Young People” symposium in Boorloo (Perth).

Dr Heris presented on the making of
Warraay Puthu (Bad Smoke in Ngyiampaa), an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth smoking prevention and Industry resistance campaign. The presentation was in collaboration with Tackling Indigenous Smoking team members Danny Allende from La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and Houshary Yusa from Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service, who are key partners of the Warraay Puthu campaign and the To***co Free Program’s Ni****ne Free Generations work.

The presentation shared the evidence underpinning the campaign approach and demonstrated what is possible when communities lead, when culture drives the message and when creativity and truth-telling become a force for change. Danny and Houshary shared their teams’ experiences making the campaign and how they are leading local communication activities to reach young people through the Na Joomelah and Barndi Yarraly TIS programs.

Want to learn more about the Warraay Puthu campaign? Follow the campaign socials, watch the Voices of Resistance music video, Warraay Puthu campaign videos and a short documentary about the project at https://www.warraayputhu.com/

GRAMS - Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service Na Joomelah Make Smoking History WA

***coFree ****neFreeGeneration ****neFreeFutures

A huge congratulations to Yardhura Walani Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) student Koorinya Moreton on being awarded the Duguid Travelling Scholarship!

Koorinya has been working with community partners like Waminda - South Coast Women's Health & Wellbeing Aboriginal Corp. to pursue Mob-led research exploring community data ownership.

The scholarship supports Koorinya participating at the Australasian Epidemiology Association Conference later this year where she will present on operationalising Indigenous Data Sovereignty through an Indigenous-governed Health Information System by and for Community Partners.

Congratulations on this well-deserved scholarship. The Centre looks forward to you representing us at the AEA’s Conference.