Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc.
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Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord Project (VARAP)

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VARAP’s core purpose is to embed Victorian Aboriginal community’s self-determination, regarding research that impacts Communities within a draft Accord which is Aboriginal led, informed by Aboriginal literature and is culturally appropriate. 

Intro to VARAP

Narrative

Victorian Aboriginal communities in relationship with Country & Ancestors continue to hold knowledges and processes to address contemporary challenges. ​ 

 

AIATSIS Code of Ethics and national frameworks position principles and guidelines for ethical research with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities. ​ 

 

Through Aboriginal leadership, Community conversations, literature review and review of current ethical processes, VARAP will enable the localised interpretation & application of national frameworks to inform a draft Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord and its components for implementation. In doing so, prioritising the research needs of Victorian Aboriginal communities.

Background

First and foremost, the Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord Project (VARAP) positions Victorian Aboriginal communities’ sovereignty, including sovereign knowledges, governance, worldviews and social systems that are thousands of years old. This position aligns with the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights, AIATSIS Code of Ethics, legislated from The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989, and Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018.  

The Victorian Aboriginal community has attempted many times to have a voice in ethical health research over the years including: 

  • A workshop in 1987 by the Menzies Foundation and NHMRC attended by about 30 Victorian Aboriginal community representatives that put the issue of Aboriginal health research ethics on the agenda for the first time, resulting in the first set of NHMRC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ethics guidelines in 1991.  
  • An Aboriginal Ethics Committee was established by the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service over 20 years ago to promote Aboriginal voice and influence the research agenda. The Committee existed for a relatively short period of time.  
  • The VicHelath Koori Health Research and Community Development Unit (Onemda), set up in partnership between VACCHO and University of Melbourne and funded by VicHealth, conducted Community workshops and subsequently published four reports in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007.  
  • Then in 2010 VACCHO published a report from workshops with their members, Universities and other stakeholders setting the focus and agenda for future research themes regarding social determinants of Aboriginal health.  

Recently the Andrews Labour Government committed to the development of a Victorian Health and Medical Research Accord as part of their platform for the 2018 election.  From this commitment VARAP, led by VACCHO, with Aboriginal communities and organisations, will explore components of a future Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord.  

 

Why is VARAP important

VARAP’s core purpose is to embed Victorian Aboriginal community’s self-determination, regarding research that impacts Communities within a draft Accord which is Aboriginal led, informed by Aboriginal literature and is culturally appropriate. 

 

Possible benefits

  1. Position Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled research framework for Victoria.
  2. Develop State-wide mechanisms for Victorian Aboriginal community-driven research priorities to be positioned within institutional research agendas.  
  3. Progress and implement research findings from Victorian Aboriginal-led initiatives from the last 30 years.   
  4. Develop processes for Medical Research Institutes, Universities and Victorian Government, which enable a higher level of Aboriginal community participation in medical, health and wellbeing research.
  5. Position principles, standards, and protocols for both; ethical research and Ethics proposals for research which impacts Aboriginal communities.    
  6. Develop research categories including research involving Aboriginal community, research which partners with Aboriginal community and Aboriginal-led research, and the different methodological expectations.
  7. Enable Victorian Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal researchers to define their rights regarding intellectual property and data sovereignty, and access to research findings.    
  8. Ensure accessible, direct tangible research benefits for Aboriginal Communities.   
  9. Ensure research proposals include Victorian Aboriginal Community workforce / research skill development, and / or employment.  
  10. Develop a draft Accord which is budgeted and financially supported by Victorian Government, and other stakeholders.  

 

Engagement

VARAP

 

Meet The VARAP Team

Project Co-Ordinator - Mishel McMahon

Mishel4

Mishel McMahon is a proud Yorta Yorta woman, she grew up in a large family in the Murray river region. Mishel completed her undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Human Services and Honours in Social Work in 2012 at La Trobe. Mishel has worked at various First Nations organisations, including Indigenous Academic Enrichment Advisor at La Trobe organising Sorry Day and NAIDOC events. Mishel began her PhD, undertaking research that revealed principles of First Nations childrearing, using methodology informed from a relational worldview, and Yorta Yorta language. Mishel recently won Premier's Research Awards for Aboriginal Research 2019, Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership 2019 and recently worked as Social Work lecturer at Shepparton La Trobe, campus. Mishel is in the last stages of developing a First Nations Health & Wellbeing mobile app, and shorts films from her Fellowship. Currently Mishel is Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord Co-ordinator at VACCHO and lives in Elmore on Yakoa river in central Victoria.  

Project Research Officer - Olivia Payne

olivia2

Olivia Payne graduated from Monash University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences degree and a Diploma of Languages in Spanish and Latin American Studies. Olivia then went on to complete her Honours degree, researching the efficacy of virtual reality as a pain reliever following surgery. After which, she worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University, researching medical technology innovations to improve patient outcomes.

Key Documents

Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord Project HREC Review

Victorian Aboriginal Research Accord Project Litertaure Review

Further Reading

Victorian Aboriginal Ethics Project Report - Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, 2005.

We Can Like Research In Koori Hands - Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, 2008.

Contact

For more information on this project contact- 

Mishel McMahon - mishelm@vaccho.org.au

Olivia Payne - oliviap@vaccho.org.au

*****VARAP Artwork by Trina Dalton Oogjes*****