Jaquelyne Hughes is a Torres Strait Islander woman and senior research fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University. [1] [2] She also works as a nephrologist at the Royal Darwin Hospital.
Hughes obtained her Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Newcastle in 2000, and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in nephrology in 2007. She obtained her PhD from Charles Darwin University in 2013. [3]
She invented Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplantation Registry (ANZDATA) Indigenous Working Group (2014–), [4] an Expert Advisor for Indigenous Renal Disease, The Primary Care Education Advisory Committee for Kidney Health Australia (PEAK) (2014–), and former member of RACP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Advisory Group (2008–2013). [2]
Hughes was the lead author on a Menzies School of Health Research report, [5] which recommended an overhaul of the renal care system in indigenous communities after compiling the testimonies of dozens of patients and their carers from across Australia. Patients reported the burden of travelling at times over 1000 km for dialysis was unsustainable and led to some patients abandoning treatment.
She is the author of over 40 research publications. [6]
Kidney dialysis is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally. Along with kidney transplantation, it is a type of renal replacement therapy.
Lowitja O'Donoghue, also known as Lois O'Donoghue and Lois Smart, was an Australian public administrator and Indigenous rights advocate. She was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from 1990 to 1996. She is known for her work in improving the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians, and also for the part she played in the drafting of the Native Title Act 1993, which established native title in Australia.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, publishing, and research institute and is considered to be Australia's premier resource for information about the cultures and societies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Pukatja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, which include many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea, located in Melanesia.
The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, formerly National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Clearinghouse, is an internet resource that collects, collates, interprets, and presents evidence-derived knowledge on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia.
Harry Christian Giese administered Australian federal government policy for the people of the Northern Territory under Prime Ministers including Robert Menzies and Harold Holt and Ministers including Paul Hasluck.
Katherine District Hospital is a district public hospital servicing the Katherine Region in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is located 3 km (1.9 mi) from the centre of town on the banks of the Katherine River, overlooking Knott's Crossing. It services an area of 336,674 km2 (129,991 sq mi). Around 85% percent of its patients are Aboriginal people, many from some of the most remote communities in Australia. It is operated by the Northern Territory Government Department of Health.
Indigenous health in Australia examines health and wellbeing indicators of Indigenous Australians compared with the rest of the population. Statistics indicate that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are much less healthy than other Australians. Various government strategies have been put into place to try to remediate the problem; there has been some improvement in several areas, but statistics between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the Australian population still show unacceptable levels of difference.
Thomas Edwin Calma, is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma was the second Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to hold the position of chancellor of any Australian university.
Gail Garvey is an Indigenous Australian Health Services Researcher with a core focus on Psycho-oncology and Indigenous people. Garvey is a Kamilaroi woman whose family originated from Moree in western New South Wales. She was a professor at the Menzies School of Health, and served as a Senior Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Division Leader for the Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Diseases Division. She was recently appointed as a Professor at the University of Queensland, Brisbane
Diabetes, in particular, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, is prevalent in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations of Australia. As many as 1 in 20 Australians are said to suffer from diabetes. Aboriginal people are three times as likely to become diabetic in comparison to non-Aboriginal people. In contrast with type 1 diabetes, which is a predisposed autoimmune condition, type 2 diabetes or insulin-resistant diabetes, is a preventable disease, heavily influenced by a multitude of socioeconomic factors. Sufferers of the disease are consequently more susceptible to chronic health issues, including heart disease and kidney failure. Conclusively, this has contributed to the 17 year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people and has led to health inequities between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people.
MaryAnn Bin-Sallik is a Djaru Elder and Australian academic, specialising in Indigenous studies and culture. She was the first Indigenous Australian to gain a doctorate from Harvard University.
Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation, better known as Purple House is an Indigenous owned and run non profit health service based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It specialises in the provision of dialysis to Indigenous Australians in remote communities across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians' health, in which peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health equality in Australia. The Campaign was launched in April 2007. National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) has been held annually since 2009.
Louise Maple-Brown is an Australian endocrinologist. She is a clinical researcher at the Royal Darwin Hospital, serving as the hospital's Head of Endocrinology and as NHMRC Practitioner Fellow with the Menzies School of Health Research at Charles Darwin University. She leads a clinical research program within the Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Diseases division of Menzies with a focus on diabetes in Indigenous Australians and provides clinical diabetes services to urban and remote Northern Territory communities.
John Hargrave was a renowned Australian surgeon whose work resulted in the near elimination of leprosy in the Northern Territory. In 1959, Hargrave was appointed medical superintendent of the East Arm Leprosarium, which replaced the leper colony known as Channel Island in Darwin Harbour.
Maree Toombs is a Euralayie and Kooma woman from north-western NSW and a researcher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, particularly mental health and respiratory disease. Her work emphasises the importance of co-design, and she is editor of the book Indigenous Australians and Health: The Wombat in the Room, which guides health professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. She is Professor of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the UNSW School of Population Health, and Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney.