In an announcement made by the Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care, the research project known as STAUNCH will receive $5m over five years to address the complex structural reform required for diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to experience health equity.
UCRH researcher, Associate Professor Veronica Matthews, will lead STAUNCH – Stronger Together As Unified Nations for Community-led Health – aiming to strengthen the capacity for self-governance among Australian First Nations.
Built on nearly 20 years of collaborative research, most recently CRE-STRIDE, STAUNCH will generate new evidence on Indigenous nation building processes that centre on holistic health and wellbeing solutions and that deal with intersecting challenges collaboratively and effectively.
The project has been funded through the Synergy Grants program of the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Associate Professor Matthews noted that the project will harness the efforts and expertise of some staunch people.
“The name of the project, STAUNCH, is an acronym that really does sum it up – we believe that health and wellbeing solutions for First Nations will be stronger when communities take control and are empowered to lead,” she said
“That’s what will be focused on: strengthening First Nations’ self-governance, and guiding policymakers to look at health solutions that holistically take into account social, political, economic and environmental issues.
“We’ve got an incredible team of people working together on this, 9 out of the 10 chief investigators are Aboriginal leaders and 8 out of the 10 are women. I know this will give us the blueprint for Closing the Gap, driving the change needed for community self-determined primary health care.”