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51
Criteria for funding research related to Aboriginal people
That research funding bodies reviewing proposals for further research on programs and policies affecting Aboriginal people adopt as principal criteria for the funding of those programs:
a) The extent to which the problem or process being investigated has been defined by Aboriginal people of the relevant community or group;
b) The extent to which Aboriginal people from the relevant community or group have substantial control over the conduct of the research;
c) The requirement that Aboriginal people from the relevant community or group receive the results of the research delivered in a form which can be understood by them; and
d) The requirement that the research include the formulation of proposals for further action by the Aboriginal community and local Aboriginal organisations.
We still need Aboriginal-led processes that prioritise self-determination, community governance, respect for Aboriginal knowledge systems, and reciprocal benefits that strengthen capability and ensure meaningful, accountable research outcomes.
Aboriginal Justice Caucus Assessment
The intent of Recommendation 51 was to prioritise funding for Aboriginal-focused research by involving communities in defining issues, ensuring community control, delivering results, and formulating actionable proposals for community advancement.
There’s a high degree of alignment between this recommendation and the actions that have been taken, noting:
- The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research and Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies reflect the four points described in Recommendation 51.
- Applications for Aboriginal health research must address the NHMRC Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria of community engagement, benefit, sustainability and transferability, and building capability.
- The Discovery Indigenous Scheme by the Australian Research Council supports research programs led by Aboriginal researchers and aimed to build research capacity of early career researchers.
Evidence of desired impacts by Victorian Government departments, includes:
- The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing commissions Aboriginal-owned evaluation specialists where possible for relevant evaluations, sometimes in partnership with their internal evaluation team.
- Research and evaluation funded by the Department of Justice and Community Safety generally requires approval from the Justice Human Research Ethics Committee. Where Aboriginal stakeholders are involved, the ethics application must demonstrate how the principles of ethical Aboriginal research are being upheld, including community engagement, benefit, sustainability, transferability, and capacity building, and must include an endorsement letter from the Koori Justice Unit.
- The Department of Health supported the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation development of the Victorian Aboriginal Health, Medical and Wellbeing Research Accord: marra ngarroo, marra goorri. It is underpinned by a driving principle of Aboriginal-led research for Aboriginal people. Government support for implementation now rests with the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions under the portfolio of the Minister for Medical Research. However, implementation funding ceased from June 2023 and may present challenges for subsequent phases of implementation.
We note that in the 2023 review of Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria, most respondents supported the continued use of the Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria for assessing research involving Aboriginal health but recommended updating its criteria to reflect contemporary community expectations. We support the emphasis in the review on the need for Aboriginal-led processes that prioritise self-determination, community governance, respect for Aboriginal knowledge systems, and reciprocal benefits that strengthen capability and ensure meaningful, accountable research outcomes.
These changes may contribute to greater empowerment of communities to play a role in decision-making around research and outcomes and strengthen the positive impacts of the funding criteria already in place.
It's something community has accepted, and it makes it a lot easier to do that research when required.
(Marion Hansen, Co-chairperson, Aboriginal Justice Caucus)
Priority for Further Work:
Moderate
Relevance and potential impact | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low (0-2) | Moderate (3-4) | High (5-6) | |||
Extent of action taken and evidence of outcomes | High (5-6) | ||||
Moderate (3-4) | |||||
Low (0-2) | |||||
Potential Actions for Further Work
Support implementation of marra ngaroo, marra gorri
Continue to invest in the implementation of marra ngarroo, marra goorri, the Victorian Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Research Accord, including the Aboriginal teams and governance structures that support it.
Monitoring and evaluation underpinning accountability
(Yoorrook for Justice, Recommendations 3)
To ensure State accountability for Aboriginal peoples related programs and policies by those responsible for their development and delivery:
a) government bodies must ensure that Aboriginal peoples related programs and policies are rigorously monitored and evaluated
b) monitoring and evaluation must be designed alongside the development of the program or policy so that it is built into the program or policy (and commences at the same time as implementation) with measurement focused on real outcomes
c) where programs or policies have existing commitments to monitoring and evaluation, but little or no progress has been made, these must be actioned within six months
d) where programs or policies do not have monitoring or evaluation included, the inclusion of these must be actioned urgently, and
e) these monitoring and evaluation processes must be in accordance with the Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework including:
i) being consistent with Aboriginal peoples’ values,
ii) reflecting Aboriginal peoples’ priorities for what is measured and how it is measured,
iii) having an approved regular reporting cycle, and iv) having a commitment to the open reporting of results.
Accountability commission
(Yoorrook for Justice, Recommendation 4)
The Victorian Government must as an urgent priority, having regard to the right of Aboriginal peoples to self-determination, negotiate in good faith with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria:
a) the establishment of an independent and authoritative oversight and accountability commission for the monitoring and evaluation of Aboriginal peoples related policies and programs
b) the detailed functions and membership of the commission, and
c) to give the commission the necessary resources and authority to hold responsible government ministers, departments and entities to account for the success or failure of the programs they develop and deliver.
Background
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) stressed the imperative for active engagement of Aboriginal communities in defining research problems and processes. More specifically, that a critical benchmark for funding consideration should be the extent to which the community contributes to framing the research issue. Likewise, that Aboriginal people and community should have substantial control over the research process, ideally through a collaborative approach, and be delivered the research results in a comprehensive manner. As such, the RDIADIC called for research initiatives to go beyond data collection and rather propose tangible actions and solutions that would benefit Aboriginal communities. This should align with the recommendation’s criteria for funding programs and policies affecting Aboriginal people.
Actions Taken Since Last Review
Responses from departments consulted on implementation of this recommendation:
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
DFFH commissions Aboriginal-owned evaluation specialists where possible for relevant evaluations, noting that this sometimes occurs in partnership with the Department’s internal evaluation provider.
DFFH noted that there had been an increase in the use of Aboriginal-owned evaluation organisations conducting relevant evaluations. However, the demand for services for Aboriginal evaluation organisations exceeded current supply, meaning that Aboriginal-owned evaluation organisations cannot be commissioned for all relevant evaluations. Over time DFFH anticipate that this market will continue to mature and be able to take on a greater proportion of these evaluations.
Department of Health
While this recommendation was deemed fully implemented, the Department has provided further support for development and implementation of the Victorian Aboriginal Health, Medical and Wellbeing Research Accord: marra ngarroo, marra goorri. This is underpinned by a driving principle of Aboriginal-led research for Aboriginal people.
The Accord was launched in October 2023 after the Victorian Government funded VACCHO to develop the Accord in 2020-21, with further funding provided in 2022 for finalisation and implementation. Government support for implementing the Accord now rests with the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions under the portfolio of the Minister for Medical Research. However, implementation funding ceased from June 2023 and may present challenges for subsequent phases of implementation.
Impact
Outcomes
Department of Health
The development of marra ngarroo, marra goorri involved regular consultations with Aboriginal community, Aboriginal health organisations, universities, medical research institutes, health services, human research ethic committees, the Victorian government, state and territory governments and the Commonwealth government.
marra ngarroo, marra goorri is governed by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander- led Accord Governance Group (AGG). The AGG retains oversight of the monitoring and evaluation of marra ngarroo, marra goorri.
Yoorrook for Justice
Yoorrook was disturbed to hear in evidence presented to the Commission that major policy frameworks relating to Aboriginal people have not been subject to any monitoring or evaluation, despite stated commitments to do so.
For example, the Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy, Wirkara Kulpa (2022-2032), commits to monitoring under the Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. However, there were no specific, data-based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set in the strategy. A governance structure was only approved in June 2023, meaning there was effectively no monitoring or evaluation of the strategy for approximately 12 months.
Generally, Yoorrook was greatly concerned at the systemic failure to consistently implement standard accountability and measurement practices across various frameworks and policies. The lack of evaluation limits capacity to deliver benefits for Aboriginal people in Victoria and the lack of monitoring limits the accountability of those responsible for the delivery and outcomes of the programs. Overall, the lack of measurement of progress limits the likelihood of improvements for Aboriginal people.
Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria
NHMRC’s Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria (IREC) are designed to ensure that research into Aboriginal health is of the highest scientific merit and is beneficial and acceptable to Aboriginal peoples and communities.
National consultation (Jun-Sept 2023) on the IREC considered how the criteria are working in practice and whether improvements are needed. Stakeholders were asked whether the current IREC are still appropriate, how we can ensure a rigorous peer review process using the IREC, and what other national or international ideas and approaches might be considered.
Main Findings
Majority of respondents supported the continued use of IREC to assess applications involving Aboriginal health; however, they also added that the criteria needed to be refreshed to reflect modern community expectations.
The criteria would benefit from community-identified priorities (self-determination), be Aboriginal-led, co-designed with communities, involve community-led governance (including data and intellectual property), respect Indigenous knowledges and research methods, value respectful relationships and result in research that is impactful and accountable with reciprocal benefits (for community and researchers), leading to appropriate knowledge translation and two-way capability strengthening.
Community Views
Dr Eddie Cubillo
Our mob keep hearing promises, but those promises have not led to real implementation to make change.