The Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit
Acknowledgement and Welcome
In the spirit of respect, Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit acknowledges this country as belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia.
Australia is the only place in the world where Indigenous Australians belong, and there is no place in Australia where this is not true.
Welcome to Muru Marri's home page. We hope that you find the information contained on this web site useful and interesting.
Mission Statement:
Guided by local and national community priorities, to contribute to the healing and positive health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through research, teaching, publication, representation on peak national bodies and public advocacy.
Vision Statement:
Muru Marri is an identifiable academic Unit of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine that is:
- Responsible to the local Aboriginal communities in which it resides and all Indigenous communities in which it may work;
- A culturally safe and inspiring place for people committed to, and working or training in, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health;
- Culturally and professionally supportive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their work as undergraduate or postgraduate students, teachers, researchers, and/or committee and community members; and
- Engaging with all staff and students who have a commitment to working with Aboriginal colleagues and communities on health and health related issues.
Key Roles:
Indigenous Health is an identified research strength of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
Download Indigenous Health Research Brochure
Muru Marri assists and advises a
special entry program into Medicine. This program is conducted by
Nura Gili Indigenous Programs and the
Rural Clinical School and is designed to enable more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to study Medicine.
In consultation with the community-controlled health sector, the Unit aims to auspice research and expand the options for post-graduate training in Indigenous health. A Master of Indigenous Health is proposed for 2011.
For post-graduate students of medicine, forensic mental health and the health sciences, Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit delivers a 6UOC course
PHCM9630 "Indigenous Health in Australia".
Muru Marri has developed and delivers the Indigenous component of the NSW Health's Public Health Officer Training Program (PHOTP), as part of the academic partnership with NSW Health and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW.
Find out more.
News
We are delighted to announce that
Associate Professor Melissa Haswell has joined Muru Marri. Melissa will be working in a part time capacity for the remainder of 2009 and will start full time in 2010. It is fantastic to have Melissa on board at this time as Muru Marri undertakes a collaborative strategic planning exercise to map out priorities and actions for the next five years.
Melissa is an experienced researcher in epidemiology, primary health care and health promotion. She has applied her expertise in diverse areas including infectious and parasitic diseases, HIV/AIDS, toxicology and environmental health, chronic disease, young people’s health and, since 2004, Indigenous mental health, empowerment and well being. Melissa also has experience in tertiary Indigenous educational development and delivery. After teaching in University of Queensland's Brisbane-based program for two years, she established and delivered the Bachelor of Applied Health Science (Indigenous Primary Health Care) degree course on Thursday Island (1998-2001) and a joint delivery program in Cairns (2002). These efforts led to the graduation of over 20 Indigenous students from Far North Queensland.
Between 2004-2009 Melissa headed up UQ's North Queensland Health Equalities Promotion Unit, where she played a key role in the Collaborative Research on Empowerment and Wellbeing (CREW) team and successfully oversaw the completion of projects funded by NHMRC, AHMAC, CRCAH, Queensland Health and other organisations in the area of wellbeing, empowerment and mental health services. Melissa is keen to establish new research initiatives that link the CREW team and James Cook University with Muru Marri and its existing network of critical friends and collaborators. More information on CREW's Family Wellbeing research program can be downloaded here.
The collaboration by Muru Marri's Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver and Sally Fitzpatrick with Lois Meyer from the SPHCM postgraduate team to produce a short documentary 'Ending Indigenous health inequalities within our lifetime' is also bearing fruit, being recently accepted for inclusion in the 2009 LIME Connection III. This documentary presents the perspectives of a number of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community leaders and health experts from urban and remote Australia who discuss how to approach the currrent health disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The DVD is inspired by the Close the Gap campaign for Indigenous health equality, the signing of the Close the Gap Statement of Intent, and the commitment of substantial funds towards this end by the Council of Australian Governments. The DVD is designed to be used as a scenario building tool in either face-to-face and via online workshop delivery and is currently being implemented in group assignment work within the elective PHCM9630 "Indigenous Health in Australia". The DVD resource has been funded through a Learning and Teaching Grant won by Lois Meyer and Sophie di Corpo from the university and is part of a larger project they are undertaking in developing scenario based learning strategies within the SPHCM postgraduate programs. For more information please email Lois Meyer.
'Ending Indigenous health inequalities within our lifetime' video [Streamed and Podcast]
Advocacy
Muru Marri has also been a key player in the creation and maintainance of scholarships including the Shalom Gamarada Residential Scholarship program for Indigenous Medical students. 'We walk together as friends', the report of our work with Shalom College, can be found in ANTaR's Success Stories in Indigenous Health. The Shalom Gamarada program is featured in the CLOSETHEGAP DVD produced by Oxfam that was screened at over 300 participating sites around Australia in 2007, including UNSW.
Muru Marri endorses the national Close the Gap Campaign for Indigenous Health Equality. Muru Marri has participated in a broad range of on- and off-campus activities, including a public forum on National Close the Gap Day 2007 hosted by Prof Peter Smith, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. Speakers included Elizabeth Harris, Senior Lecturer & Director of the Centre for Health Equity Training Research & Evaluation (CHETRE) at UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine and Professor Ian Ring, Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong’s Centre for Health Service Development and a critical friend of Muru Marri. The event was facilitated by Muru Marri's Director, Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver.
National Close the Gap Day occurs on 2 April each year. Find out more about the Close the Gap Campaign for Indigenous Health Equality ...
Muru Marri's Director and staff contribute as Board Members to the Indigenous dental program, 'Filling the Gap', a program where volunteer dentists provide services to patients of Wuchopperen Health Service in Cairns, Far North Queensland. An evaluation of this project is currently in press. Find out how to get involved.
In 2008, Muru Marri and friends celebrated the historic Motion offering an Apology to the Stolen Generations, delivered by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13 February. View UNSW Nura Gili staff and students talking about what the National Apology means to them here.
What has the Apology got to do with Indigenous health and wellbeing? See the Apology - Viewpoint by Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver and Sally Fitzpatrick in the Medical Journal of Australia. See also ABC Radio's News in Science here.