Transcript

Jaeda Lenoy [00:00:03] Good morning, everybody. Before we begin, I'd like to do a Welcome To Country. So I would like to acknowledge the traditional landowners of the Kaurna country on which India and Jaameeta are presenting on, and the Wulgurukaba and Bindal country which I'm on currently, and also all the country that you guys are on. And thank you for coming on to the seminar as well. And I'd also like to pay respects to elders past, present and emerging and to any cultural events that are happening and sorry business that is in effect. 

Philippa Collin [00:00:36] Thanks for that, Jaeda. I'd also like to welcome you all to our August webinar hosted by the Wellbeing, Health and Youth NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Adolescent Health. I am Professor Philippa Cullen. I co-direct the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University and lead the stream of research in the WH&Y CRE on the ethics of Engagement, which is really about how do we make participation in health research and translation the norm for better policy and practice. Which is very fitting considering today's focus. I'd like to also acknowledge our funders who are listed on this slide, and we would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognise continuing connection to land, orders and culture. I'm joining today from the lands of the Burramattagal people of the Dharug Nation and extend my respects to elders past and present. We thank them for their custodianship and care of country over tens of thousands of years. I also want to welcome any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people joining us here today and young people whose health and wellbeing we all work towards. And we invite those of you joining today to acknowledge the Aboriginal lands on which you live and work in the chat. 

Philippa Collin [00:02:10] So today's webinar will be recorded and also made available on the WH&Y CRE Community of Practice, which can be accessed by our website. So feel free to look back on the content and also to share with anybody you know who should know about the webinar today. It will be available. Our website has a lot of other resources, general articles and previous webinars relevant to adolescent health research, so please check them out if you're not already familiar. Last little bit of housekeeping. So during the webinar the audience will be muted and video will be switched off. If you have anything to say or would like to ask a question or a clarification to our presenters today please use the chat panel on the side of your screen. We'll have a lot of time for discussion, question and answer session at the end of the presentation, so please feel free to put your comments and questions into the chat as we go. 

Philippa Collin [00:03:22] So it's my absolute pleasure to welcome and introduce our presenters today. Firstly, Dr Jaameeta Kurji, who is a non-Indigenous global health researcher and epidemiologist. She's spent the past 14 years working in partnership with a diverse range of communities in the developing world to make access to quality health services more equitable for all, but particularly for young people. India Shackleford is Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri woman and a passionate advocate for women and First Nations people within STEM. She is a Bachelor of Science with Honours graduate and a current Doctor of Medicine student as a research assistant for the Wardliparingga Aboriginal Health Equity Theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute or SAHMRI, India endeavours to better understand factors leading to inequity within health outcomes, particularly in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. And it's also my pleasure to welcome and introduce Jaeda Lanois, who is a Gumbaynggir and Bundjalung descendant from the Mid to North Coast of NSW, as well as a Birriah, Ngaro, and Juru woman from the Far North and central regions of Queensland and South Sea Islander member from Tanna, Vanuatu. She's currently living on Wulgurukaba and Bindal traditional lands. Jaeda is driven by confidence, resilience and teamwork, which forms a tree of support for one’s self or a cluster to succeed. It's great to have you here, all three of you. Over to you. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:05:31] Thanks. I hope everyone can hear me now. Um, great. So I'll dive right in. Thank you so much for having us. We're very excited to speak to everyone today about the Road Map project and I'll dive right in. I will give a really quick overview of what we're doing on the project and will then hand over to India and Jaeda so that they can share their perspective on conducting health and wellbeing research as young Aboriginal women. They're going to share their reflections and experience as well as their aspirations. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:06:27] So I think a really good place to start would be to reflect on why focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing is important. And I'm sure most of you are aware that young people between the age of 10 and 24 years make up almost one third of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia. They are important for safeguarding cultural continuity. We also all know that adolescence is a really eventful time in a person's life. There are multiple transitions occurring in the physiological, cognitive and social spheres. We also know that disparities in health outcomes are still persisting. In an earlier synthesis of available population data on Indigenous adolescence in Australia, we found that about 80% of mortality among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents could be classified as potentially avoidable within the current health system, and most of this was potentially preventable as opposed to potentially treatable. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:07:40] It's also well acknowledged that the health and wellbeing needs for these young people are also largely unmet. And perhaps one of the reasons for that might be the absence of a national strategy guiding action in this space. Most responses to date follow a very siloed approach focusing on specific diseases or conditions, and so responses are very reactive in nature and fragmented. And I think this also plays a role in the data that's available, which seems to be very, very heavily skewed towards health outcomes and risk factors, but a little shy on social cultural determinants which are really, really important in shaping health and wellbeing. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:08:32] So what we're aiming to do on the Road Map project is to respond to this gap by working with young people to create the first comprehensive national strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing. The roadmap will define priority health and wellbeing needs, but also identify evidence based responses to these needs and hopefully also highlight some of the existing knowledge gaps that are there. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:09:05] As you've probably guessed, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are at the heart of the Road Map project. We have a governance group consisting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people between 16 and 24 years. There are two representatives from each of the states and territories across the country and we also have two co-chairs that lead this group of very dynamic and talented young people. They play a diverse set of roles on the project, contributing from everything to articulating the project vision and mission to weighing in on how to connect the young people, to providing input on data collection tools and strategies. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:09:54] We're very early in our stages of data collection, and actually we're on the precipice of our national launch of the online survey. So stay tuned. Our governance group will be involved in analysing and interpreting the data and will lead co-design off the Road Map and all the series of outputs that will be created for action and advocacy as we go along. We try and acknowledge the diversity in skills and interests and lived experiences of our governance group members and are constantly trying to create opportunities for our governance group to be involved in the project. In addition to governing our work, which is their central role. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:10:40] We've got three main mechanisms in place at the moment to try and support this. We have capacity development funds built into the project for each member to access on an annual basis to support their professional development and to enhance their ability to lead and govern us. We also have in-house knowledge exchange sessions, one of which we ran last year in preparation for incoming data. The sessions built on their knowledge and skills around qualitative data analysis to support more meaningful engagement with the data. And then, of course, we also have periodic meetings with the entire group to discuss projects, to discuss progress, as well as to get them to weigh in on the various aspects of the project. And we also meet more frequently with the co-chairs to ensure that there are multiple mechanisms for communication. And one of the most important things is that the governance members receive remuneration for their time. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:11:43] Um, so I will quickly just tell you about how we're going about building the Road Map, and then I really want to hand over to India and Jaeda because they should be the ones talking about this stuff. So as I mentioned earlier, the Road Map will feature health and wellbeing needs identified as priorities by our young people that we're speaking to and will also include evidence based responses. We're going to try and capture adolescent and stakeholder perspectives on needs and responses through primary data collection, primarily qualitative data. And we will also include selected indicators from available population datasets to match up the needs that are identified by adolescents and stakeholders, particularly around social and cultural determinants, where a lot of the work needs to be done. And then we will also source some evidence based responses by conducting scoping reviews in order to integrate all the available evidence out there. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:12:47] We are speaking to a diverse group of individuals to try and really capture the spectrum of perspectives on health and wellbeing needs as well as responses. But of course, central to this group are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents themselves. But we're also speaking to service providers, to community members, that includes leaders, parents. We will also try and speak to policymakers and researchers, really trying to get multiple perspectives on what is needed. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:13:22] We will channel young people's views in three main ways. We are about to launch our National Anonymous Online survey targeting 13 to 24 year olds. The survey consists of a handful of very short questions to really try and understand what the main needs and issues are from young people's perspective, but then also to try and tap into what they think keeps them healthy and happy. What gets in the way? What kind of supports they would like to see. So we'll be exploring that through the online survey, but then looking into the same areas in a bit more depth through online interviews as well as online focus groups. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:14:09] From stakeholders such as yourselves, we want to explore what programs and services or interventions are on the go and being tested. What's working really well. What more you think can be done. And through online interviews, we will ask you what you think the priority needs for health and wellbeing are and how the young people that you work with through your services or supports know about these services and supports. What's working well, what's not? And any recommendations that you might have that we should integrate into a national strategy. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:14:48] We will then run co-design workshops with stakeholders that we will co-facilitate in partnership with our governance members to try and start creating the Road Map and all the associated outputs. This will bring together everything from all the stories that young people have shared with us to stakeholder views as well as selected secondary data that we've pulled together, including a little bit of policy analysis. All right. I'm going to stop there and hand over to my colleague, India. 

India Shackleford [00:15:22] Thanks Jaameeta. Thanks for giving that short introduction to the Road Map project. Since our presentation is about youth perspectives, I'd like to talk about the project from my point of view as a young Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri woman who's studying and researching the health field. I'm going to talk to a few points from a report done by Welcome, which is a charitable organisation. And in 2020 they did an inquiry looking into young people's involvement in health research. So when Welcome was looking at health research relating to young people, they identified all of these positives. Youth participation literally improves research quality, so young people are able to better identify questions and methods that can relate to people of their generations. T. 

India Shackleford [00:16:21] Hey also identified this added bonus of young people really being able to have the access to peers and communities in research. Recruitment and engagement can be really difficult especially working with those younger generations. So they noted this is a bonus. And they also noted from feedback and from conducting this review of the literature that young people tended to comment on feeling more empowered as well as developing valuable skills in this field. 

India Shackleford [00:16:51] But I would have to say, certainly as a young person involved in research, I agree on all of these areas. I think there's definitely a need and a bonus for including young people in this kind of work, and it can be really valuable, not only as a learning opportunity for us, but also in terms of the kind of quality of research I think we can get out of such projects. 

India Shackleford [00:17:15] So the same review looking into health research involving young people, noticed that while adolescents were often involved from, at least in the papers they looked, in terms of the research, design and data collection, they tended to be more in a focus on young people's involvement with these areas, as opposed to activities relating to setting the agenda with translation. And similarly, while in some of the research they noted that adolescents had decision making power, it tended to be less than their adult counterparts. And I think part of this certainly has to do with the fact that academia can be really think strict hierarchy in its hierarchical sense. So we have our students who tend to be our young people, and above them we have this really strict order of Masters qualification. Ph.D. Postdoc, Associate Professor, Professor. I think that can play a role in terms of this decision making. 

India Shackleford [00:18:17] And inclusiveness was also something that they noted. So when reviewing these papers, they couldn't always tell in terms of diversity of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status. They weren't able to relay this kind of information about the young people involved. And certainly in terms of health topics, if young people aren't included as part of that real agenda making and decision making process, I think that is the mismatch for research being done might not really align with youth priorities, especially relating to health. 

India Shackleford [00:18:58] And just to comment on this through a First Nations research point of view. Historically, we are the most studied people in the world, and that has unfortunately produced this really negative connotation associated with research has been quite long lost. So I'd like to acknowledge the impacts of colonisation and invasion upon our peoples and upon the research landscape. And it's really for this reason, particularly, that research, especially in the health context, when we can get into really personal and important issues. So the most important that research in relating to First Nations people is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. So really that nothing for us without us. 

India Shackleford [00:19:47] Certainly in terms of our projects that I'm going to be speaking a little bit more to. It's a really exciting and powerful opportunity to be able to work with our young people, both as research participants, researchers like myself and governance group members like Jaeda. And this is once again emphasising that today we're going to be talking about the involvement of our governance members, our researchers, and I'm speaking from that research perspective. 

India Shackleford [00:20:19] So certainly from my point of view, I think that one of the strengths to my involvement in the project thus far has been, I think because of my age, and of course, depending on the person I'm speaking to, can be a little bit easier to relate. It's not so long since I was in school or working or studying, so I think that can sometimes make it a little bit easier to form those initial connections with people and start a conversation. And from my point of view as well, it's been a really valuable opportunity to learn more about research in a health perspective and to begin that capacity building and networking journey. 

India Shackleford [00:20:57] It's also placed me in a really special, I think, quite a powerful position to be able to listen to the stories of our young people, as well as stakeholders and service providers to learn from their stories. And it feels pretty amazing to be able to say that I'm actually working towards making a difference for my peer group. I think that's pretty amazing to be able to speak to, advocate for. 

India Shackleford [00:21:25] I put in a picture of our project team. So we have an amazing team which is co-led by, should be Professor now, Peter Azzopardi who's a non-Indigenous researcher and Seth Westhead, who is an Awabakal man and of course an Indigenous researcher. And one of the reasons I've highlighted this is because that team is excellent in terms of we have a diversity of skills, genders and representation. But it's also, and you can see everyone with the purple line identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. I think it's really important to have that representation and leadership in all levels. So from my position as a Research Assistant through to Research Officers, CI AND all the way up to that Co-lead level. We have that representation and that strength of skills as well as cultural knowledge to draw upon. 

India Shackleford [00:22:21] I'm going to speak just a little bit to the governance, but more so from a perspective of a researcher who's working with this governance structure. And I think this is a lovely photo from our face to face event. So we have our team members as well as most of our governance group featured there. 

India Shackleford [00:22:44] So governance group implementation is certainly not without its challenges. It's something that needs a lot of investment in terms of time from researches and also from funding. So we've been really fortunate in our grants, NHMRC Ideas grant to have already built into it the ability to renumerate and financially support our governance group for their really valuable time and important decision making. So I guess the blues is some of the things that make it difficult and the greens are positive. So what we're working on to achieve this. So certainly our renumeration and ability to support our governance group through activities like committed discussed, such as now knowledge exchange, learning, some of these research skills has been really valuable. 

India Shackleford [00:23:35] Again in the blue. I touched on briefly earlier the fact that research can be have that real hierarchy in nature. I think that can make it a little bit difficult sometimes to incorporate structures like youth governance. And I think something that we've been working on within our project is making more flexible roles and really working to acknowledge the strengths and skills. Certainly from professional qualifications, but also the strengths of game within the age group and of cultural knowledge and understanding. So the fact that we all have a diverse range of experiences, skills and input we're able to place within the project. 

India Shackleford [00:24:21] And another point that I'm certainly proud about with governance group is we have a good range of representation, not only from young people living in different states and territories, but also in terms of gender identity and diversity. People who are neurodiverse or members of the LGBTQ+ community and people with different interests and levels of study from high school to work to university. So those are all things that I think make this project really rich in nature and the black points at the end. I think all of these facets will hopefully lead towards us creating or advocating for more responsive policy and is certainly going to lead to an end point with more upskilled young people as well as this really amazing ability to learn from one another in different contexts. 

India Shackleford [00:25:20] I'm going to hand over to Jaeda to talk about our youth governance perspective. And I think you'll also be able to hear in video from some of our other government members as well. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:25:33] Yep. So before I present my segment for today's presentation, I'd like to present a video made during our first face to face interaction, just presenting the other governance members and their perspectives. 

VIDEO [Speaker 1] [00:25:59] Young people are like the future, right. So, you know, a third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are between the 10 and 24 age bracket. And so with such a huge collective of people in the one age range, it's important that we get people from that range to actually drive this project forward. As you know, this project will be directly affecting them as well. 

VIDEO [Speaker 2] [00:26:23] Without having young people's voices, there's not going to be any change. Yeah, we are the future and the young ones coming after us as well are going to be the future too. So it's crucial to have young people involved in every discussion. 

VIDEO [Speaker 3] [00:26:37] It's important that we lead it. So you get you get to hear our voices. But yeah, I'd like to be that voice because not many people stand up and speak out for what's going on. 

VIDEO [Speaker 4] [00:26:56] I feel like young people kind of get pushed aside and ridiculed for having something to say because, oh, you're not old enough to have an opinion. Yeah. And then when you get older, you don't really feel like sharing your opinion as much because when you were little you were not listened to. 

VIDEO [Speaker 5] [00:27:12] I think other young mums should be involved because we all have very diverse lived experiences and it allows us to capture a bigger picture with more detail. So yeah, the more the merrier. 

VIDEO [Speaker 6] [00:27:25] I think it's important because young mob, adolescent, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders may need a hand and everyone needs a hand and I think it's time for them to get given a hand. 

VIDEO [Speaker 7] [00:27:36] Because young people are like the next generation, you know. It's good to hear their stories because they're going to be the leaders one day and you want to listen to what they have to stay and stuff that then you can help guide them, you know? 

VIDEO [Speaker 8] [00:27:48] I think it's important because we're young mob now, but we're not always going to be we're going to grow up and then we're going to be the researchers and the people in charge. So it's really nice to get this experience early on and to hear, you know, to have our voices heard and to be listened to and to to have discussions and exchanging knowledge with people who who have had experience in this already so that we can learn from them and that we can be the researchers of tomorrow and and the health professionals of tomorrow. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:28:42] So yeah, that was just a video of our Youth Governance members and their perspectives on the Road Maps. And now it's my time to share my governance perspective with you as well. So 'Nothing About Us Without Us. Youth Governance through the National Road Map for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adolescent Health. I'm going to introduce myself once again. So my name is Jaeda Lenoy and I'm a Bundjalung, Gumbaynggir, Birriah, Juru, Ngaro woman and a South Sea Islander from Tanna, Vanuatu. And I'm based on Bindal and Wulgurukaba Country in Townsville, north Queensland. I'm also the female Queensland representative for the Road Maps Project since 2021. I'd like to begin by acknowledging that I'm one representative of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience within the community. I do not speak on behalf of all communities, but I am valid. My experience, work, lifestyle and housing is where I use my experience to influence my viewpoints to assist in the design of the project. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:29:48] So to channel the experiences and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth people, the Adolescence Health Platform team at Wardliparingga in SAMHRI, have formed a national youth governance group to lead the Road Map project aged 16 to 24 for governance member involvement. We have a vision of acceptance and embracing diversity to increase in future for celebrations and supporting others in elements of wellbeing creation. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:30:24] I've had the chance to be involved in all aspects of the Road Map project which have contributed to my personal growth and skill development, as well as enhance my exposure to matters related to health and wellbeing. The Road Maps project team has also created a safe space, as India had spoken about before, for all of our governance members to influence image operations, evolution and processing of our project to help identify the priority needs and actions that are important to our young people in our communities through collection, analysing and processing data from our client base, which ranges from the age of 10 to 24. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:31:04] Today I'm going to be talking about the inclusion of cultural versus national exposure, connecting the world, and youth involvement creates empowerment. So I, as an Indigenous woman of Australia, I'm strongly connected to my cultural groups and lands and I see a vision for inclusion of cultural exposure within the national mainstream to help those in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities find grounding in times of need and connectedness with their identity. Torres Strait Islander people are the people of water. But Aboriginal people are the people of the land and I aspire to connect people of the water and lands through this project which is gifted to us in such a unique way with having our representatives not only from the mainland, including Tasmania, but also at the Torres Straits. And what this does for us is it's to join all the communities together to provide a powerful sense of identity, pride and belonging within the community. And I see that the Road Map project can assist in connecting young people to action, just like it has with the governance members. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:32:22] Nowadays there is less exposure on country with our youth groups unless obviously youth live on country, but that's not always an option in these times. So it's very important for us to have that kind of cultural connection to our country within the modern world and within this, it's also and there's also been quite of lot of movement throughout the national exposure that includes cultural focal points and that really does focus on our youth. And this is why it's important to also have youth in such a Indigenous community and identity orientated organisation. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:33:03] So through the vision and integration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, I seek to connect traditional healing and culture to the ways of the Western world. More exposure to the world of traditional ways and stories within the Western mainstream is a pathway for the modern world that needs to be travelled in order to assist the younger generations in this struggle, struggles with medical limitations and restrictions. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:33:28] Within the Western system, we as a community find balance, reassurance and strength to defeat any offences that our people, our culture can face, but having more of a cultural standing into that will also assist those with the connection to their elders and also their ancestors as well. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:33:53]  It's also my personal hope that the Road Map project will be able to expand the scope of health and well-being beyond the medical models in the Western world, one that can represent all our communities and cultures. I'd also like to say I wish to fulfil my position as a representative to create pathways to make services more accessible to those who are divided by the long stretches of land or those who are surrounded by the waves and currents to connect and not segregate culture. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:34:29] The romance is to connect the world, to connect the nation. The team takes the time to explain to the local people in the area of works and organisations who we are, what we do, and how members of the Aboriginal community can be involved in our program through branches within our project. Many facilities and organisations have created a road map for each state and territory, but we wish to take that to another level. We want to connect all the states and territory with a platform of support and services to assist individuals in the needs and wants within the health platform. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:35:02] Our governance members have also participated in Indigenous workshops and conferences for exposure and collection of other organisation services throughout the years in development. This project was created to have two representatives from each state and territory as well as the Torres Strait Islands, to help with use orientation and missions of success for consistent youth participation and social positioning. World connection builds communities across cultures and beyond boundaries and borders, providing a much needed insight about works and what might not work for that particular community. As such, their ideas and worlds can influence peers, adults and even policy decisions. Introducing youth involvement creates empowerment and production and assessment of the adolescents health and wellbeing. Youth involvement has created a voice projection, a voice of recognition, empowerment, the users shaping a world as we know it with exposure on almost every single issue. And we are no different. The roadmaps and our youth workforce works closely with the researchers and the summary team to produce results that will assess in the image we created and the knowledge that we can obtain and the journey we can present to the people around us when we come face to face in these type of situations, such as a seminar or to any kind of conferences around the nation. Also, as a group that has exposure to the age of 16 to 24, we have many members who are a part of our project that have created a portal for recognition and existence in the physical and mental limitations the LGBTQIA+ community and multicultural indigenous communities as well, such as myself. And we strive to assist and connect and support our nation in almost every way possible through the roadmaps. So yet we're slowly getting that to our goal. And it's been wonderful so far. And yeah, we're just waiting for it to really take off with the survey, as Jaameeta said. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:37:09] Thanks, Jaeda. Um, so I think that gives you a really good snapshot of how we work together on the Road Map project, bringing together diverse views, different styles, a variety of strengths and interest, and genuinely celebrating everybody in a spirit of true pluralism. We work together to create a safe environment for everyone so that everybody can express their unique perspectives and we can really harness everyone's creativity. We try to encourage each other to share opportunities and give everyone room to grow. This process takes patience, curiosity, humility and flexibility, and it requires having genuine respect for everybody's positions and ways of expressing. But we're hoping that through this unique partnership with young leaders, we will be able to do a good job in capturing what young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders feel are priorities for their health and wellbeing. But we do need your help as well. So as I mentioned earlier, we are speaking to stakeholders such as yourselves to understand more about the work that you do and what you feel needs attention. So please get in touch with us if you'd like to share your views through an interview. We also need your help to lift Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people know about the Road Map project and so that they can have their say as well through one of the three ways. So let's have a listen to the governance group calling out to young people to take part in our upcoming survey. I've also got the QR code there, so when you download the slides later you can share those together. 

VIDEO [Speaker 1] [00:39:08] Have your say now. 

VIDEO [Speaker 2] [00:39:09] We need your voice. Your voice matters. 

VIDEO [Speaker 3] [00:39:12] Now you Mob, be deadly. Take the survey. 

VIDEO [Speaker 4] [00:39:14] Be dardy, and take the survey. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:39:30] So if you do work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents, please do help us spread the word. We are conducting interviews and focus groups in addition to our national anonymous online survey. This QR code on your screen right now links up to an expression of interest form, and we've also included our website and social media platforms. Thanks. I'll hand over to Pip. 

Philippa Collin [00:40:06] Jaeda, India made a thank you so much for that fantastic webinar. This is such an important project and hearing about the approach. How you so deeply embedded the principles of collaboration into the governance of the project is. Yeah, I think there's a lot that we can all learn about how we might improve and shape our own research. And certainly that's something that we've been very interested in, is how do we support, I guess, young people, but also policymakers and other researchers to adopt similar approaches. So very much looking forward to hearing more about the work as it unfolds and accessing some of the amazing knowledge, insights and resources that you're putting together. We've got a few comments and questions already in the chat, so I'll start with [inaudible], who has said thank you for a fantastic presentation. A question for Jaeda. It was so interesting to hear about how you building strong connections among the governance group. Is this something you actively aim to extend to other young people and how do you do this? Is it through conversation, activities or in other ways? 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:41:48] So yeah, because I do have a native title for two of my groups, Ngaru being on the Whitsundays and Airlie Beach and Birriah, which is over in Charters Towers down to Mackay. I do feel very strongly, especially about the cultural exposure where people, if some people it's really nice to be on Country to feel grounded in that kind of sense. So I have been able to tell people that they should go out onto their Country and they should just take a moment to introduce themselves to their Country as well, to really feel the embrace of what was there at the time, because ancestors are a very powerful thing. And so spirits as well, you can really feel them when you're on Country. And it's kind of been proven with if you go up to Anangu Land or up to Darwin even, there's a lot of people who, when they're feeling in a tough type of space, when they go out on to Country and they do acknowledge themselves on that Country, they can feel a sense of calm and they can actually feel very collective and very surrounded in a safe place. So I do aim for people to obviously go out on Country and also to be proud of who they are. There are a lot of people who say, like they're from this type of area, but they don't know what their family ties are. But I think it's powerful that even if you know who you are, you should present that to everybody. And that can also join with how you say in conversation as well in your question that can strengthen somebody, that can be people who are unsure because they don't know who they really are in that sense of their history. But if you can have a conversation with that person, they're going to stretch out to you and they're going to want to talk to you about those type of things to meet you in the middle. And when they meet somebody who is so connected to land or who's so passionate about these type of things, they will open up to you and you'll be able to pretty much empower them to really think about themselves and to really be honest with themselves as well. And activities that you could do, there's simple things. You could go to NAIDOC and you could talk to the traditional landowners where you live. There are a lot of communities and a lot of elders who are willing to teach you as long as you show them respect. And that can also help you with gaining that kind of information and also getting that support from those elders and that community outside. 

Philippa Collin [00:44:17] Thanks Jaeda, that was really comprehensive. And I think some of what you've said might relate to this next question from Maia. But it's a little bit different. It's and any of the three of you might like to respond to this for all of you, but Maia asks, what is your advice for non-Indigenous organisations to be effective allies to support this work that you're doing? 

India Shackleford [00:44:46] I'm happy to start. I think this might be a good one if we're all happy to speak to it. I think certainly I think data raises some really good point. Whether it's I guess, like it depends if people are working in similar spaces or not. Certainly cultural training, ensuring that if you're doing especially work within health or work that is relating to First Nations people. But there is a consultation process that people are engaged with politely and respectfully that you're undergoing training. And I think unfortunately in some organisations, cultural safety training can come across as a bit tick box if it's something like online training. I think there's a whole nother side to actually working with people, engaging with communities and really being open to this like that choice learning exchange. They're learning from others and taking information in. And again, to what Jaeda said, I also like to acknowledge that we are certainly diverse in terms of our cultures, but also our culture, knowledge and identity, which again, as a result of colonisation, there are people who are richer in culture than others. So acknowledging that also we're not uniform in terms of our knowledge and understanding. So really taking that into mind and consideration when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Happy to pass that to Jaameeta or Jaeda, if you have anything else to add to that question. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:46:25] Okay. Now, would you like to go first? 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:46:31] I think another way for non-Indigenous organisations to be effective allies is how India was saying have some type of cultural awareness program that you're really embedding. But the other thing is nowadays there's obviously Zoom calls that you want to take out to talk to your bosses and everything like that. So I think as well as you want it to be, very inclusive. Do you present, like I said before? Do you present yourself? So if you know who the traditional landowners are, you do say that in your emails or in your Zoom calls, because that's another way where you can support them by recognising that you recognise that the land that you're on. But cultural awareness training is a must. It is very important, I would say. Another thing is there's a lot of non-Indigenous organisations such as for instance like you, normal kind of supermarkets, like how you have Kmart, all that kind of stuff. They make sure that they let everybody know that they're supporting stuff like the Your Voice survey or any type of range, your kind of communities that are happening like this one in Cairns at the moment. And there's a lot of non-Indigenous organisations that are also supporting that. So I think as long as you show your participation and your recognition of the community that you wish to represent or wish to recognise, then that's more than enough, as well as just being inclusive of people, especially if you do run into anybody who is indigenous, you know, just showing them that respect because they will share that respect. Back to you as well. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:48:13] Thanks. I'll just quickly say that if your question was also about how to contribute to the road map in the construction of this national strategy, the best way is get in touch with us and speak to us as a stakeholder because non-Indigenous organisations are also serving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescent clients. So understanding what your challenges are, where you would like some more support is also really important. 

Philippa Collin [00:48:45] So a question from Monique, who also says, Thanks for the incredible presentation, everyone, but particularly for Jaeda or India. How do you balance the impacts of cultural load with your commitment to your advocacy work? Have you found that you or other group members and researchers sometimes cope with burnout when offering cultural consultancy in this way? And if so, how do you cope? 

India Shackleford [00:49:14] Would you like me to speak to that first data and then I'll cost you? Think that's a really insightful question. Be honest. It can be really difficult. Like, I'm super happy and excited to be working in this space, but it can actually be really challenging whether it's hearing about difficulties that young people are experiencing with their health and well-being even. I think especially as young people, we sometimes get a lot based, not whether it's advocacy, whether it's even with universities and organisations, for example, feeling a bit of pressure to actually educate others or to be involved with like events and organising activities for weeks like NAIDOC week or National Sorry Day. So it can be really difficult and really draining. I think certainly for me, having my team and also to working through uni, having indigenous collectives with kids that I'm able to, whether it's in a group chat or just meeting for coffee, being able to debrief and talk about this kind of stuff because I think it's something we all experience. Being able to talk with other young people and also elders or people either along in their career about just like coping, happiness and business because it it can feel like a lot of stuff for sure. Do you have anything to add to that, Jaeda? 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:50:51] I would say, like, how India is saying you can always get support with your burnout out through like a cultural kind of perspective. Another type of thing is I think I do balance it quite well. I would say there are some like meetings I do miss out of, obviously, but I do tell them that I am on country for that type of reasons and everything like that, too. I think as long as you have a organisation or a workforce which India and Jaameeta meet online along with a couple of others, when I tell them I'm out of country, that they're obviously quite accepting of that because obviously not everyone gets a chance. And for some people it's quite a powerful time to have to step away from work. With burnouts, I think the most important thing is looking after your physical and mental health, especially making sure that obviously you're eating right, your timing stuff well, you know, booking yourself and also just making sure that you're not taking on too much. Obviously if you can't go to certain places or can't be two places at once, there are places that can offer you flexibility in order to do two different things at the same time, or to take time off at one type of thing and come back to another. One ways that you could cope with it is obviously taking a weekend off. You could, instead of going through a work week and going out on Country or doing something culturally, you could see if there is an option, do it on the weekend or you could see if works possible for you to do work at another time because yeah, as long as you find the balance for it, I think that's most important. And you're also looking after your health and wellbeing. That's your focal point with the cultural kind of standards. 

Philippa Collin [00:52:42] Thanks for that response, Jaeda and I know that you need to go now or soon. So I just wanted to say if that's the case. Thank you so much for your presentation and contribution to the seminar. I think we've got time for one more question. So I wanted to put the question from Kate to everybody. She's asked, what are your thoughts on how to increase the alignment of young people's priorities, whether they rightly be health as a holistic and multifaceted outcome with governments and funders who continue to view health in silos and organ based. So I think that's  the medical model, you know, kind of going to your earlier points, Jaeda and India, how we re-think our conceptualisation of health through the work that you're doing. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:53:43]  Did you guys want to go first? 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:53:45] You can go first at this one. 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:53:52] Um, so I, i that that's a huge question, and I don't think that's a, an obstacle that we will sort out by any means. But we're hoping that by creating a national strategy, it can be used as an advocacy piece to make these structural changes. But the other thing that we're trying to do as well is have these conversations with policymakers and decision makers and funding bodies right now, right at the beginning, to understand how their systems work, but also to create a bit of awareness as to where the gaps are and where change needs to happen. So that would be my quick answer. But yeah, but very aware that, you know, that sort of systemic change will take a really long time. But early conversations I think, hopefully will be helpful. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:54:44] Yeah, I just add to that that I hope through our project, but also similar ones that we do establish more conversations between these silos so that there's at least more connections and more communication there, because health and wellbeing is so holistic and so multifaceted, it can be really difficult just looking at one little section of what's going on in someone's life to actually effectively problem-solve. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:55:18] And the other thing is we haven't, because we're still in the early stages, we haven't actually come up with platforms or services or particular kind of things. So we're still kind of going through with our servings, what are the needs and wants of everybody. So we haven't really finalised them for all these different perspectives or these different type of elements that are actually going health and wellbeing. So maybe further down the line after we've done our national survey and other things, there may be an opportunity for that to go into more depth conversation and projection of that. But at the moment we're still trying to focus on what are the actual needs of our youth before we can finalise focal points to really look at in the next couple of years. 

Philippa Collin [00:56:07] Yeah, I think we all appreciate the focus and the part of the project or the stage of the project that you're at. And so I think we're really keen to continue the conversation as the work unfolds and to think with you about that question of really shifting the mindset and the structural factors, I guess, which view health and the way in which it's situated within policy differently. Certainly from my perspective, this is precisely the kind of project that I think is making an enormous contribution to that slow process that you mentioned you made. Yeah, slowly opening up and and creating that change. I just wanted to end on maybe a related question, but also just I'd love to hear from the three of you about what has been the most surprising or perhaps inspiring insight that you've gained from this work to date and that you'd like us to take away with this? 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:57:25] Speaking to young people. This day we've done a few interviews with younger ones in that 10 to 14 age group recently as well. Just how resilient and amazing, and surprising they are. They can be experiencing a lot of really challenging things in their lives and have this positivity and optimism and real lust for life. I think, yeah, that's the thing that I think has been surprising and noteworthy. 

Philippa Collin [00:57:57] Thanks. India. Jaameeta? 

Dr Jaameeta Kurji [00:58:12] Um, I wouldn't say surprising, but I have to say I've always enjoyed working in this space, but on this project with the group that I'm with and the work that we're doing, it doesn't feel like coming to work. I think I think about this all the time. I'm just so energised by the group that we work with. Everyone is so creative. There's so many great ideas bouncing around. There's just not enough time in the day to get enough done. So yeah, really enjoy it. 

Jaeda Lenoy [00:58:44] What I enjoy about this organisation,where we do the road maps is that we're very, very inquisitive and we're very flexible. And the other thing is, it's a brilliant experience because we're able to have so many people from all different places. So just got a country like a country view and that kind of stuff. So yeah, it's been, it's one of my favourite jobs, I have to say, out of the many that I have. It's one of my favourites because there's so much going on. We're all treated like a family as well. For instance, some of some of our members did have children recently, so we've really been able to connect with them when they come on Zoom and everything like that you see the little babies. But also you see people who, you know, are taking the time out of their busy days, obviously, to come see us on these Zooms who are always moving or who are like having university. And the other thing is I, I really enjoy that this is such a, such a group, an organisation that isn't just stopped by the ages. So it's not like, oh, this is a job. And that this type of range of these type of expertise, like, we've got somebody who's 16, who's still in high school, but then we also have people who have finished their uni degrees or who like well into their jobs now. So yeah, it's just amazing that we're able to be able to connect on so many different platforms for so many different reasons and to be able to call each other family and really connect when you need be available for each other and for others. 

Philippa Collin [01:00:24] But I think that's a great point too. I don't want to say 'end done' because I feel like these are ongoing conversations. I know a lot of people have asked in the chat how they can find out more or support the project and hopefully in addition to the resources that are on the screen there and the information about contacts, I think to maybe you've directly said please reach out. So I'm sad actually to say that this is the end of our webinar, but once again, to Jaeda, India and Jaameeta. Thank you so much for sharing your work with us today. We wish you well as the project progresses and look forward to getting in touch. staying in touch and and learning and supporting this work. 

Jaeda Lenoy [01:01:12] Thank you for your time.

Jaeda Lenoy [01:01:15] Thank you so much for that. Everyone, have a wonderful day and a wonderful week.