Yardhura Walani

18/09/2026

Yardhura Walani is excited to be part of the National Association of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Workers National Conference next week!

If you are attending the conference, stop by the Yardhura Walani stall and have a yarn to find out about the work we’re doing, the resources on offer to support workforces, and how we partner with organisations like NAATSIHWP to strengthen the wellbeing of Mob.

We’re also thrilled to be launching the next wave of the Kulay Kalingka survey, gathering data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer attitudes, beliefs, and experiences to guide national cancer policy and improve services and care. Fill out a survey and get some cool merch!

And check out the KILUNG MORUNBUL JUM (Death by Smoke) sculpture on display - a powerful call of resistance against the To***co Industry. Join the movement and take the opportunity to tell the To***co Industry what you think.

Yardhura Walani is proud to support NAATSIHWHP and their service and advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioner

17/09/2026

Yardhura Walani is excited to share that Fiona Cornforth and Ray Lovett have been recognised by Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) for their outstanding and sustained contributions to strengthen health outcomes for Mob.

Yardhura Walani Director Fiona Cornforth has been awarded the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Award, honouring her remarkable advocacy and leadership in strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ wellbeing through a public health approach. Throughout her career, Fiona, in partnership with the communities she serves, has coordinated responses to complex public health issues, including violence prevention, intergenerational trauma, and healing. Her contributions have advanced public awareness of the structural drivers of health inequity and supported the implementation of evidence-based, community-led solutions, shaping public health policy and systems at the highest levels.

In accepting her award today, Fiona said, “Applying Cultural teachings and values to policies, procedures and processes helps me get the work done that matters most to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities… I dedicate my award to each of the members of my Centre - to you and your excellence.”

Professor Ray Lovett has been awarded PHAA's competitive Sidney Sax Award in recognition of his leadership in driving transformative change across research, policy, and practice to deliver lasting benefit to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Australia’s public health system. Ray and the Culture and Wellbeing team have led the first global effort to develop and validate cultural indicators, transforming how public health measures health determinants. He has led four national cohort studies with findings embedded in multiple health plans, and his seminal work on racism directly informed the PHAA’s landmark declaration of racism as a public health emergency.

Ray, during his acceptance speech highlighted that “Indigenous public health is about far more than programs, policies, or statistics. It is about people. It is about listening. It is about recognising the strength, resilience, and wisdom that Indigenous communities have demonstrated for generations.”

Congratulations to Fiona and Ray and their teams for this outstanding achievement.

14/09/2026

Some deadly developments in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples seeking support to quit smoking.

Recent research led by Yardhura Walani researcher Dr Daniel Odo and colleagues, published in Public Health Research and Practice and selected as an Editor’s Choice, found an increase in the dispensing of smoking cessation medicines (SCMs) to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who smoke.

This work adds to a growing body of evidence showing important shifts in smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and highlights the critical role of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners, and locally responsive, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches in creating safe and supportive environments for quitting.

Analysis of data from 2006 to 2019 found that dispensing rates for SCMs increased substantially under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services (RAAHS). PBS dispensing increased from 1.24 to 18.08 per 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who smoke, while RAAHS dispensing increased from 0.30 to 1.70 per 100 people who smoke in remote areas.

Smoking prevalence among adults has declined significantly over time, while the proportion of people who formerly smoked increased from 24% in 2002 to 36% in 2018–19. National data cited in the paper also found that approximately 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who smoked daily wanted to quit, and 78% wished they had never started.

Access to cessation medicines is an essential part of a comprehensive approach to to***co control. Alongside accessible quitting supports, sustained action is also needed on the commercial and structural conditions that drive smoking and make quitting harder.

The research illustrates the importance of equitable, culturally appropriate and continuous access to quitting support and Indigenous-led health promotion.

Read the Article, featured as an Editor’s Choice, here:
https://doi.org/10.1071/pu25057

For support to quit, see your local doctor, call the Quitline (13 7848) or download the MyQuitBuddy app.

CSIRO The University of Newcastle, Australia

13/09/2026

Today, Yardhura Walani celebrates the 19th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Indigenous collectives who drive its implementation.

The comprehensive international charter details the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples, and the minimum standards required to protect these rights. Article 3 confirms that Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination and to pursue their social, political, cultural and economic development. Article 31 further insists that Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, protect, control and develop their traditional knowledge and cultural intellectual property, and that governments must protect these rights.

Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov) is a powerful global movement in which Indigenous peoples around the world exercise their right to self-determination and assert ownership and control over their data and stories to create outcomes that protect and strengthen Indigenous peoples’ lands, cultures, values, and ways of being.

Maiam nayri Wingara PTY LTD. is Australia’s Indigenous Data Sovereignty peak organisation who advocate for Indigenous data rights, educate state and federal governments, organisations and community about the origins of IDSov. They provide training in operationalising the IDSov Principles through Indigenous Data Governance, helping to advance IDSov and UNDRIP into action.

Yardhura Walani is proud to collaborate with collectives like Maiam nayri Wingara who give meaningful effect to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and deliver self-determined outcomes for Mob.

Yardhura Walani also welcomes The Australian National University's commitment to UNDRIP in its ANU by 2030 Strategic Plan, and we look forward to seeing it embedded across all institutional practices at ANU.

Pictured: Global Indigenous Data Sovereignty Conference 2025, co-hosted by Yardhura Walani and Maiam nayri Wingara.

09/09/2026

Who decides what counts as credible evidence?

Peer review plays a powerful role in shaping whose knowledge is recognised, what research is published and, ultimately, the evidence that informs policy and practice.

A new Indigenous-led perspective in Health Promotion International, led by Yardhura Walani Associate Professor Raglan Maddox with Dr Sarah Funnell, Professor Michelle Kennedy and Professor Janet Smylie, examines racism and complicity in peer review, and what needs to change.

‘Indigenous excellence: confronting racism and complicity in peer review’ maps racism across three interconnected layers:
Societal ↔ Publishing system ↔ Peer-review process

Importantly, the paper also moves beyond identifying the problem. It sets out practical reforms for journals, editors, reviewers, authors and institutions, including Indigenous leadership and expertise, improving reviewer selection, anti-racism and cultural safety, and building greater accountability into publishing systems.

The central message is clear: research excellence, integrity and fairness require more than goodwill. They require structural change.

Read the open-access paper here:
https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daag117

University of Newcastle Queen's University University of Toronto

04/09/2026

Yardhura Walani’s research has been central to the development and improvement of multiple national health plans and strategies, shaping policy that results in meaningful and tangible benefits for Mob.

We are trusted expert advisors at the state and federal levels, pushing agendas set by community priorities.

Check out our Healthy Place Report to learn more about our policy, community and practice impact supporting the Aboriginal Community Controlled workforce and strengthening the health and wellbeing of Mob across Australia.

Read the impact stories here -https://yardhurawalani.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Yardhura-Walani-Healthy-Place-Report-2022-2025.pdf

03/09/2026

“Like everything else, all our achievements and any benefits were not GIVEN to us; we all FOUGHT for them, set up our own organisations, organised ourselves and fought back.”

Reflecting on these powerful words delivered by Aunty Pat Anderson at the Yardhura Walani Annual Oration last year, we share with you an article that traces the development of two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led and governed Centres at the The Australian National University.

The history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing research in Australia is deeply entwined with colonial practices that are extractive, exploitative and driven by non-Indigenous agendas. Yardhura Walani and the ANU National Centre for Indigenous Genomics are leading change, restoring trust with communities and creating genuine partnerships, with research driven by Mob.

Read the article here - https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/strong-and-healthy-how-mob-driven-leadership-is-transforming-indigenous-health-research

The history of Indigenous health research in Australia is deeply entwined with practices that were often extractive, exploitative and driven by non-Indigenous agendas. Now, Yardhura Walani and the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics are leading the way to change that.

27/08/2026

These last couple of weeks the Yardhura Walani Yukaaywa Purrary and What Matters 2 Kids study teams have been busy hosting Art Workshops with young mob from Palawa, Gunbayngirr and Garramilla in a deadly sprint of creativity and culture across the country.

The Yukaaywa Purrary Study and the What Matters 2 Kids study are two emerging projects at Yardhura Walani that exclusively focus on the health and wellbeing of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Yukaaywa Purrary (Ngiyampaa for 'tracking our children') study aims to understand and promote factors that contributes to the strong culture and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents aged 8 to 15 years. Through these workshops, the team has been finalising the last pieces of the cultural wellbeing and executive functioning scales for the Yukaaywa Purrary national survey.

The What Matters 2 Kids (WM2K) study has been co-designing a nationally relevant, strength-based wellbeing measure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5 to 11 years. The team has been engaging young people in art workshops to develop the wellbeing items for the WM2K wellbeing tool.

Workshops like these elevate young people’s voices, ensuring their insight and community perspective shape better outcomes for young Mob.

If you are a community organisation who would like to partner with the Yukaaywa Purrary or WM2K teams, please reach out to us on [email protected]

25/08/2026

AI systems risk deepening colonial logic.

University of Tasmania Associate Professor Jacob Prehn, with Yardhura Walani researchers Dr Bobby Maher and Professor Ray Lovett and other Directors of Maiam nayri Wingara Pty Ltd examine the critical role of applying Indigenous governance to AI in Australia.

Data ecosystems have long served as instruments of colonial control. AI is built on these foundations and is increasingly being used for analytics and decision-making within our public health, education and child protection systems.

The paper theorises that left unchecked, AI systems risk deepening colonial logic and causing significant harm. However, embedding Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles offers a powerful counter framework through which Indigenous peoples can govern the creation, interpretation and use of data that concerns them.

For AI models to serve Indigenous peoples equitably, there has to be sustained investment in Indigenous data institutions, legislative implementation of instruments like the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and Indigenous-led oversight across digital infrastructures. Through careful and critical engagement, and the application of Indigenous governance frameworks, AI can be harnessed to support accountability and fairer futures.

Read the open access article here - https://doi.org/10.1177/14407833261460137

21/08/2026

Yardhura Walani is proud to share the Healthy Place Report 2022-2025, a snapshot of our impact stories since being established as a National Centre in January 2022 and seeing out the 2025 calendar year.

This is the first of many reports to highlight Yardhura Walani's important and urgent work. It celebrates true leadership by Mob - driving support for community agendas, shaping policy reform and supporting health workforces with strengthening health and wellbeing for Mob.

To our many partners, supporters and peers who have joined us in our efforts, we thank you.

To our community partners, we’re proud to work together with you to deliver in the ways that matter most.

We invite you to read the report here -https://yardhurawalani.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Yardhura-Walani-Health-Place-2022-2025-3.pdf