Dear members of the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community,

For over 35 years, we have been advocating to have agency over how health, medical and wellbeing research that impacts us, is conducted.

On Wednesday 11 October 2023, VACCHO was proud to officially launch marra ngarrgoo, marra goorri: The Victorian Aboriginal Health, Medical and Wellbeing Research Accord. If you attended this event with us at Melbourne Museum, we thank you for coming to share this HUGE MILESTONE with us, we loved seeing you there!

If you don't know much about the Accord, you can read further information about it and download it here. There’s also an introduction video available here.

Now is time to IMPLEMENT marra ngarrgoo, marra goorri, to ensure that its vision and objectives are realised for our communities across Victoria. The Research Accord team at VACCHO is currently working to devise pragmatic initiatives and establish processes for the following four priority actions of the Accord:

Increasing research capability, for our Community to lead and conduct more research, and for the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research sector to become culturally safe and humble in the way it conducts research with us.
Establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research(ers) Network, for our Community to learn, work, support and partner with each other.
Instigating institutional reform by establishing an Accreditation Scheme, to ensure signatory research organisations improve their ethical research standards.
Establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Ethics Committee to review and approve research projects that impact us.

At this stage, we want to have a yarn with YOU about the first action above to see what initiatives we should implement to increase research capability and cultural safety, and what YOUR aspirations and needs are for the Research(ers) Network.

If you can't make it this time, please know that there will be additional opportunities to talk with us on other implementation actions in the coming months. You are welcome to participate to as many yarns as you wish.

We will send some concise information to registered participants a week prior to the event. This particular event will occur in-person (Melbourne-based location to be confirmed - light refreshments will be provided). However, you can also yarn with us on those topics online on Friday 8 March by clicking here.

Alternatively, if you cannot attend either option above and still want to have an informal chat with us, please reach out to the team at the contact below.

If you require assistance to be able to attend an event, do also reach out to us so we may support your participation.

We look forward to further celebrating and implementing marra ngarrgoo, marra goorri with you. And please feel free to share this event with Community members within your research networks.

Please contact us at varap@vaccho.org.au for more information. And most of all, take care and stay deadly.

The Research Team

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

*marra ngarrgoo, marra goorri literally translates to: Community Knowledge, Community Health. This phrase recognises the need to integrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in research that impacts us, in order to realise health in our communities. It puts forward the vision that our traditional ways of knowing, being and doing, and Aboriginal self-determination in research, are prerequisites to creating positive health outcomes for Community.