The MJA supports an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament

Abstract

e are at a time when there have never been better opportunities to translate health policies, practices and medical research into improvements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Critical to these efforts is a health and research system -including in the publishing sectorthat recognises the importance of Indigenous leadership in producing and implementing health care and research in order to magnify research benefits across the communities it serves. 1 However, as noted by Michelle Kennedy and Janine Mohamed from the Lowitja Institute, research requires appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ethical governance: "All research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be deemed safe and respectful by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples." 2The health outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations during the COVID-19 pandemic provide an outstanding example of how outcomes are best when Aboriginal people have a voice. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations coordinated the response from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation down to remote communities. As a result, the health gap was reversed in the first year of the pandemic, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations experiencing six times fewer cases than the non-Indigenous population, and no recorded deaths. 3,4 It is notable that research in New Zealand has included Māori ethical frameworks for over 30 years, 5 which has strengthened the design and the implementability of medical research.