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News & Events

Gastro gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children shrinking

The world's largest study of gastroenteritis trends in children has shown the disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health may be improving.

News & Events

New Study Focuses on Teen Sex Issues

Western Australian researchers are surveying secondary school students to find out what factors put young people at risk of unintended pregnancy.

News & Events

Report finds most programs ineffective for Aboriginal children

The largest survey ever undertaken of Aboriginal children and families has thrown new light on why most existing intervention programs are failing.

News & Events

High stress burden takes toll on Aboriginal children

A landmark new report on the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children

News & Events

Aboriginal researcher receives Fiona Stanley Medal

Aboriginal researcher Annette Stokes has been awarded the Fiona Stanley Medal for her commitment to improving child health and wellbeing.

First Nations Childhood Cancer Research

A first of its kind research program at The Kids Research Institute Australia aims to develop new strategies to better treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with cancer.

Expression of Interest (EOI) for Youth Advisory Group

Are you a young person (14-25 years old) who is Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and LGBTIQ?

Research

Djaalinj Waakinj (listening talking): Rationale, cultural governance, methods, population characteristics–an urban Aboriginal birth cohort study of otitis media

The majority of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to as “Aboriginal”) people live in urban centres. Otitis media (OM) occurs at a younger age, prevalence is higher and hearing loss and other serious complications are more common in Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal children. Despite this, data on the burden of OM and hearing loss in urban Aboriginal children are limited.

Research

Estimation of the force of infection and infectious period of skin sores in remote Australian communities using interval-censored data

Prevalence of impetigo (skin sores) remains high in remote Australian Aboriginal communities, Fiji, and other areas of socio-economic disadvantage. Skin sore infections, driven primarily in these settings by Group A Streptococcus (GAS) contribute substantially to the disease burden in these areas. Despite this, estimates for the force of infection, infectious period and basic reproductive ratio-all necessary for the construction of dynamic transmission models-have not been obtained.

Research

‘Can you sleep tonight knowing that child is going to be safe?’: Australian community organisation risk work in child protection practice

Risk averse practice has dominated the child protection field for decades, with high-profile child deaths, ever-tightening surveillance, and regulation of families. In this context, the practice of social work as ‘risk work’ including the use of risk assessment tools has been subject to substantial scholarly investigation. Less attention has been paid to the community organisations that play a central role in supporting child protection-involved parents. Based on interviews with Australian community workers, we examine their negotiation of the parent support/parent risk dichotomy.