Yardhura Walani

Tackling racism is the necessary first step to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing. This Reconciliation Week we’re calling for action to end racism.

Hear from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about their visions for a world without racism.

Watch the video today: https://vimeo.com/779457250?fl=pl&fe=vl

We also invite non-Indigenous people and organisations to reflect on your own attitudes and actions, and how you can help to end racism. Do the Check Up and access resources to support positive change here: https://mk-engaged.anu.edu.au/ending-racism/checkup/

Ending Racism. Tackling racism is the necessary first step to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing — so let's end racism. Watch the video to hear from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about the impacts of discrimination and their visions for world without racism. Find out more, a...

Check out the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives latest Knowledge Café episode. CEO Dr Ali Drummond yarns with Yardhura Walani Associate Professor Raglan Maddox about tackling Big To***co through research.

🚭This World No To***co Day the World Health Organization (WHO) is shining a light on the ways in which big to***co aggressively markets new products - hello vapes - to secure a new generation of addicts.

Recently our CEO Ali caught up for a yarn with Associate Professor Raglan Maddox to discuss his work in tackling big to***co through his research with Yardhura Walani for the latest episode of our Knowledge Cafe series.

👉Have a watch over on our website - https://catsinam.org.au/watch?videoId=53

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Yardhura Walani’s submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples calls for action that eliminates racism and improves health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The evidence is from experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as data provided by communities. This submission is made in honour of research partners and participants across this nation of many nations, who keep speaking up and showing up.

Eliminating racism will prevent harm and keep people healthy and strong. The time to act is now!

Please see our earlier posts about PHAA declaring racism a public health emergency this month - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7458380220434251777

You can access our submission here - https://yardhurawalani.com.au/yardhurawalani-submission-parliamentary-inquiry/

World No To***co Day 2026: Unmasking the Appeal

Published today on World No To***co Day, this paper by A/Prof Raglan Maddox from Yardhura Walani, Prof Emily Banks from NCEPH, at the The Australian National University and others provides evidence on how the commercial To***co and Ni****ne Industry deliberately and systematically target young people.

Va**ng rates among 13–15-year-olds are, on average, nine times higher than adults, and ni****ne dependence among young people is rising.

Contemporary ni****ne products, particularly e-cigarettes, are deliberately designed, marketed, and distributed to maximise youth appeal. Appeal is engineered across product design and market environments that target youth, and regulatory settings enable widespread availability.

Together, these create conditions where initiation and long-term use are not accidental, they are predictable outcomes of systems designed to maximise appeal, addiction and availability.

The commercial To***co and Ni****ne Industry depends on this. As smoking rates decline, sustaining profits relies on attracting a new generation of users. Youth uptake is not an unintended consequence. This is a predictable outcome of commercial systems designed to maximise appeal, dependence and consumption.

At the same time, the Industry narrative paints youth as “vulnerable” and shifts attention away from the commercial and structural drivers of harm. This framing can (re)produce colonial patterns of reasoning by recasting structurally produced harms as matters of individual responsibility. In doing so, it helps maintain Industry legitimacy while supporting continued expansion into younger populations.

This paper is a call for stronger regulation and enforcement to address deliberate and systematic exploitation.

If we are serious about protecting young people and improving health and wellbeing, we must hold the commercial To***co and Ni****ne Industry accountable and address the systems that produce appeal, sustain addiction, drive youth uptake, and perpetuate preventable harm.

Read the paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1005133

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Availability, appeal, and addictiveness by design: To***co and ni****ne industry deliberate targeting of youth In recognition of the World No To***co Day 2026 theme, "unmasking the appeal", this Perspective by Raglan Maddox and colleagues discusses how to***co and ni****ne products, particularly e-cigarettes, are deliberately designed and marketed to maximize youth appeal, and highlight the need for policies...

Yardhura Walani was proud to sponsor the AH&MRC of NSW CQI State Forum - Achieving Quality - On Our Terms.

We joined the over 120 delegates and all 51 NSW ACCHS on Gadigal Country this week to celebrate community-controlled health organisations who lead the way in delivering culturally safe, high-quality care.

We also want to acknowledge our partner National Association of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Workers (NAATSIHWP), fellow sponsor at this important event that supports AH&MRC members and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers who are shaping systems that prioritise Aboriginal values, knowledge, and community ways of working.

Pictured: Yardhura Walani Director Fiona Cornforth with Karl Briscoe, CEO of NAATSIHWP and the Yardhura Walani team at the conference.

Yardhura Walani proudly joined the National Walk for Truth that concluded today on Ngunnawal Ngambri Country.

The Walk for Truth began at the Victorian Parliament House on 19th April, started by Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett as a call for national truth-telling and healing, and a direct call to the Prime Minister to publicly commit to a national process of truth-telling.

Yardhura Walani, on this National Sorry Day, supports this call to action for truth-telling. We were honoured to be part of the gathering and inspired to walk alongside the thousands of peoples who continue to show up for truth telling so that truth can drive action.

“A nation that can tell the truth about itself is a nation strong enough to heal, to repair and to imagine a different future.” Travis Lovett, Letter to the Prime Minister

There are many ways to show your support for the National Walk for Truth. Learn more here - https://www.walkfortruth.com/

Pictured, left to right: Yardhura Walani staff members Emma, Kiara, Fiona, Ben, Ray, along with Travis and Renata.

Ready for the next step in your research career?

Yardhura Walani is seeking a passionate and driven Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join our team and make meaningful impact.

The role will focus on a program of work aimed at understanding and improving wellbeing among young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. You will contribute to a team that collaborates with communities and produces research that is grounded in strength and culture.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this role.

Applications close on Monday 1 June 2026.

Apply now - https://jobs.anu.edu.au/jobs/postdoctoral-research-fellow-canberra-act-act-australia-acd83393-b812-4ae1-926d-1976b65b2a5f

Interested in how we work?

Our recently published Screen Your Way protocol paper showcases our approach to research – one grounded in partnership, community leadership and real-world impact. The Yardhura Walani Cervical Cancer Elimination team has partnered with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) for the Screen Your Way study.

Screen Your Way embeds HPV self-collection and delivers cervical screening in ways that work for each community. Solutions are co-designed and led by ACCHOs, recognised as experts in their communities, strengthening existing systems and changing practice in ways that work for them. Our work aims to go beyond increasing cervical screening participation, contributing to the (re)building of health systems that deliver meaningful and lasting benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Read more about how Screen Your Way is working with ACCHOs to improve cervical screening for community-

Screen Your Way Study Protocol: Embedding community driven models to increase cervical screening via HPV self-collection to improve cervical cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people In July 2022, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection became available as a choice to all participants in Australia’s National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP). This policy change aims to facilitate equitable access to cervical screening; however, further evidence is needed to support its impl...

Following compelling evidence presented at our Preventive Health Conference this week, showing the causal links between racism and health inequities in Australia as experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we have officially moved and endorsed a statement declaring racism a public health emergency.

Read the statement: https://www.phaa.net.au/Web/News/Media-releases-2026/racism-public-health-emergency.aspx