 Amy McKay & Sara Howard, PHC RIS
 CRC for Aboriginal Health
<www.lowitja.org.au/crcah/crcah>
The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Aboriginal Health is one of 57 CRCs across Australia and was established in 2003. The principal aim of this virtual organisation is to bring together the Aboriginal health sector, government health agencies and research institutions to ‘standardise' Aboriginal health research so that:
- the area of research is considered a priority by Aboriginal people themselves
- the results are relevant, disseminated quickly and are widely accessible to the Aboriginal health sector
- the process builds research capacity within Aboriginal communities.
More broadly, these research criteria contribute to improving the delivery of health services to Aboriginal people. The CRC for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH) has 12 core partners, five of which are Australian universities. Other partners include the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Menzies School of Health Research and the Danila Dilba Health Service.
The CRCAH website is a great resource for those interested in Aboriginal health research. It details current research projects that cover the following program areas:
- Comprehensive Primary Healthcare, Health Systems and Workforce
- Chronic Conditions
- Social Determinants of Health
- Social and Emotional Wellbeing
- Healthy Skin
It also provides information on how the CRCAH can support researchers and students through education and training (eg. scholarships).
There are many other resources and publications available on the website including two regular e-newsletters, Gwalwa-Gai and CRCAH Bulletin, fact sheets, brochures and an events list.
The CRCAH comes under the umbrella of the CRC Program established by the Australian Government in 1991.
The objective of this Program is 'to deliver significant economic, environmental and social benefits to Australia by supporting end-user driven research partnerships between publicly funded researchers and end-users to address clearly articulated, major challengers that require medium to long term collaborative efforts'.
For more information on the CRC Program <www.crc.gov.au/information/>
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