Centering Indigenous research excellence now and into the future

Applications that qualify to receive funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research must address our Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria (IREC), which are designed to ensure the highest scientific merit is applied, and that the research is beneficial and acceptable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

Qualifying applications must dedicate at least 20% of the research effort and/or capacity building to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. The 4 criteria to address in grant applications are:

• Community engagement
• Benefit
• Sustainability and transferability
• Building capability.

NHMRC, guided by its Principal Committee Indigenous Caucus (PCIC) conducted a national consultation in 2023, to consider how the criteria are working in practice and whether there were improvements needed.

The review highlighted that there is strong community support for adoption of an approach where all grant applicants answer a question about how the proposed research will benefit Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health, ultimately aligning with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

As a result, NHMRC will pilot a question in the Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) 2025 grant opportunity, asking applicants to answer:

How does your application benefit Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health and contribute to Closing the Gap targets?

Professor Yvonne Cadet-James, Gugu Badhun woman from the Valley of Lagoons in north Queensland and outgoing NHMRC PCIC Chair, said that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are impacted by several determinants resulting in poorer health outcomes compared to other Australians as identified in the Closing the Gap Initiative.

'This new question will assist researchers to consider how their research benefits Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and contributes to Closing the Gap in health discrepancies as part of a national response to health equity' said Professor Cadet-James.

NHMRC prioritises promoting wellness and health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as outlined in our Corporate Plan 2024–25. In identifying this as a top health priority, NHMRC activities can build on, or contribute to addressing the health challenges focused to specific areas of national concern such as the health of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

NHMRC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Steve Wesselingh, said that we want to prompt all researchers to genuinely and consciously consider this new question from the outset, from conceptualising and planning research and intended impacts through to the translation and implementation of research.

'We want better health outcomes and health equity for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and everyone, including the health and medical research sector, have a role to play' said Professor Wesselingh.

NHMRC’s CRE scheme provides support for researchers to pursue collaborative research and develop capacity in basic science research, clinical research, health services research, public health research and one health research for a funding duration of 5 years.

This unique scheme aims to support the conduct and development of innovative, high quality, collaborative research, promote effective translation of research into knowledge gain, health policy and/or practice, foster and build capacity and capability in the health and medical research workforce and provide opportunities to expand and improve collaborations between research teams.

In response to the introduction of this question in the 2025 CRE grant opportunity, former NHMRC Council Chair, Professor Caroline Homer AO was delighted to see this question now being trialled in one of the NHMRC’s important schemes, as improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is everyone’s business and all work should be contributing to Closing the Gap.

'Even if our research is not focussed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is really important to consider how the findings and learnings can contribute more broadly and improve the health inequities that we know exist' said Professor Homer.

All applicants will need to describe how the proposed research could benefit Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health and contribute to Closing the Gap targets. Responses will be considered by peer reviewers in the overall assessment of the application, using the existing scheme-specific assessment criteria in the context of the relevant field of research.

Professor Catherine Chamberlain, Palawa woman of the Trawlwoolway clan (Tasmania) and PCIC member, said that the Australian Government is committed to Closing the Gap on health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians, and health research plays an important part in achieving this.

'This new question aims to help researchers focus on the benefits of the research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health which will also help reviewers to assess the research proposal in relation to helping meet these national commitments to Closing the Gap' said Professor Chamberlain.

NHMRC, in support of PCIC members such as Professor Maree Toombs, Euralayie and Kooma woman from North-Western New South Wales invites researchers to join us in a shared vision of a healthier future, emphasising the need for research that is conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and that respects their cultural perspectives and traditional knowledge.

'Impactful research in this context empowers our communities, addresses systemic barriers, and creates sustainable, community-driven change, leading to health equity for all Australians including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' said Professor Toombs.

The 2025 CRE grant round opened for applications on Wednesday 23 October 2024 and will close on Wednesday 4 December 2024 at 17:00 AEDT. For more information on this grant opportunity, visit GrantConnect.

Quotes attributable to Professor Anushka Patel - The George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales:

• 'Equity is a fundamental consideration in relation to indicators of a nation’s health.
• 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership will drive Closing the Gap, but active systematic consideration of how our research may contribute, directly or indirectly, facilitates engagement by all.'

Quotes attributable to Dr Megan Ferguson - School of Public Health, University of Queensland:

• 'We all have an important role in contributing to health equity in Australia – this new question will assist research teams to have conversations and to deeply consider how their research aims to contribute to health equity, or in fact how it could be strengthened to make this important contribution.
• 'This is such an opportunity for the benefits of great research to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes more broadly.'

Quotes attributable to Professor Peter Azzopardi - Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Kids Research Institute:

• 'The inequities in health experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are well described, and it is only fair and just that there are specific schemes to generate the evidence needed to address these inequities.
• 'But this is not enough, nor can or should it be the sole responsibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to address the health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and all research efforts should consider how they contribute to building a fairer and more equitable nation.'

Quotes attributable to Dr Sarah Larkins - James Cook University:

• 'All too often, Closing the Gap is viewed as largely as the responsibility of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, or those directly involved in working with these populations – we need to shift the dial, so it is the felt responsibility of all Australians.
• 'This new question asks all health and medical researchers to consider how their research might apply to and benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to reflect on how the design and conduct of the research might best facilitate participation of these groups.'