Search
Apgar score, birth weight, sex, socioeconomic status, and maternal ethnicity, in addition to gestational age, have pronounced impacts on disability-free survival.
Carrington Shepherd PhD Honorary Research Associate Honorary Research Associate Areas of research expertise: Population health; Aboriginal and Torres
Brad Carrington Fiona Farrant Shepherd Stanley BSc (Hons), PhD PhD FAA FASSA MSc MD FFPHM FAFPHM FRACP FRANZCOG HonDSc HonDUniv HonFRACGP HonMD
The current study sought to increase our understanding of the factors involved in the early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children.
Led by nine Elders, the Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort Project is working to generate a better understanding of early childhood development from an Aboriginal/Nyoongar perspective.
Indigenous children in colonised nations experience high rates of health disparities linked to historical trauma resulting from displacement and dispossession, as well as ongoing systemic racism. Skin infections and their complications are one such health inequity, with the highest global burden described in remote-living Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter respectfully referred to as Aboriginal) children. Yet despite increasing urbanisation, little is known about the skin infection burden for urban-living Aboriginal children.
The prevalence of stillbirth in many high income countries like Australia has remained unchanged for over 30 years. The 2018 Australian government Senate Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education highlighted the need for a public health campaign to encourage public conversations and increase awareness.
Although essential for overall health and wellbeing, little is known about skin health in urban-living Australian Aboriginal children. This co-designed, research-service project aimed to describe skin health and document skin disease frequency in urban-living Aboriginal children and young people in Western Australia and investigate housing associations for skin infections.
First Nations women often experience harmful, inequitable maternity care, shaped by intergenerational trauma and culturally unsafe care. Historical forced removal of First Nations children has created enduring trauma that influences pregnancy and birthing experiences. In the Australian Capital Territory, maternity care is provided through Western biomedical systems, where increasing child protection interventions and fear of surveillance affect women's engagement with care.
First Nations women in Australia continue to experience disproportionately adverse maternal and infant outcomes. The ongoing legacy of colonisation and systemic racism shapes these outcomes. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), maternity services remain dominated by Western biomedical approaches that fail to deliver culturally safe and anti-racist care despite national standards that mandate such practices.