Health inequalities experienced by Australian First Nations People are amongst the most marked in the world, with First Nations People dying some ten years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians. The failure of existing responses to health inequalities suggests new knowledges and questions that need to be explored. It is likely that these new knowledges sit outside of western research or practice paradigms. Through the Indigenous practice of yarning, the importance of worldview and Country emerged as an under-acknowledged social determinant of Australian First Nations People well-being. Yarning is a process of storytelling that involves both sound and silence. It requires embodied deep listening through which stories emerge that create new knowledge and understanding. We anchor our learning by re-telling John’s creation story, a story of healing through discovering his Aboriginal Worldview through reconnecting to Country. Country for First Nations People is more than a physical place; it is a place of belonging and a way of believing. We argue for the recognition of trauma, recognition of diversity and the use of yarning in social work practice. We conclude that reconnecting to Aboriginal Worldview provides hopeful insights into the well-being of Australia’s First Nations People and the social determinants of health.

Parenthood is increasingly a choice being made by lesbians in Australia. Although children conceived in heterosexual relationships have been raised in lesbian-parented households since the 1970s, there is now an emerging trend of children being conceived within lesbian relationships. The emergence of new family forms has implications for individuals, families, and the broader community. The present paper draws on the experiences of 17 lesbian-parented families living in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Adopting an ecological framework towards child development, it argues that both informal and formal support systems are important in enhancing the protective factors to support these families. The paper identifies a number of critical times of vulnerability for these families. At these times, if informal support systems fracture, the formal support system can play a significant protective role towards lesbian-parented families and support lesbian-parented families to achieve optimum family and child wellbeing.There is an expanding literature on Australian lesbian families (Lindsay et al.

Introduction: Determining how best to recruit and retain adolescents has proven difficult for many projects. We sought to discover adolescents' thoughts about and understanding of participation in longitudinal research and to identify recruitment and retention strategies that were meaningful to them. Methods: We conducted seven focus groups with 10-15 year olds (mixed and single gender) in two large rural centres in the state of New South Wales, Australia. All focus groups and interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed by the research team. Results: Adolescents discussed both external and internal factors that were salient to their involvement in the present focus groups, as well as factors that may influence their involvement in a larger longitudinal study. Adolescents had a generally positive view of research at the outset of the focus groups but were reluctant to engage in research that involved collection of biological specimens. However, through discussion of the research aims and methodology, most adolescents wanted to participate in the proposed longitudinal study at the end of the focus groups. Discussion: Effective recruitment of adolescents requires an appreciation of motivators, as well as time and resources to extend potential participants' understanding.

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