Major Research Grant projects
Lowitja Institute research commissioning aims to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to transform their ideas into aspirations that meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and improve health and wellbeing outcomes within a generation.
Lowitja Institute provides Major Research Grants for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations only. We support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations with Seeding Grant and Major Research Grant funding to do research that is led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Information about Major Research Grant funding
Current projects
Below is a list of the nine projects funded in the 2024-26 funding round. For previous research projects, see Research projects
ACCOs and child welfare decision-making
Understanding how Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs) are enacting new statutory authority in child welfare decision-making: An initial process evaluation of the Community Protecting Boorais Program
VACCA has led the work on transforming the Victorian child welfare system from a state-led system to an Aboriginal Community of Care model centred on culture,…
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Models of community care for children’s eye heath
Ngaaminya Project: A First Nations-led project mapping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community expectations of good eye health for children
This project will contribute to a broader strategy of building Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determined models of care where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…
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Backing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to address school exclusion
Understanding and Resisting School Exclusion through the Education Justice Lab
The Education Justice Lab (EJL) is a program directed towards addressing school exclusion utilising Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and Indigenist methodologies. It positions Aboriginal and…
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Actioning Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consent and data sharing priorities to guide community controlled health service best practice
Limited literature confirms lack of investigation into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s expectations about consent, data use, and health service data-sharing practices, especially decolonised…
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Understanding the key barriers and enablers for Aboriginal women pursuing a career in midwifery
Mob caring for Mob: Establishing educational pathways to midwifery for Aboriginal women to support the upscaling of Birthing on Country services
This project aims to decolonise and strengthen the maternity care workforce by improving the choices and pathways for Aboriginal women into tertiary education necessary for…
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Stolen Generation Survivors’ and their descendants’ health and wellbeing
Exploring the health and wellbeing needs of Stolen Generations and their descendants in South Australia
This project is a foundational piece of research to examine what evidence exists in relation to the health and wellbeing of Stolen Generations and their…
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Measuring the burden of iron deficiency in Aboriginal children under five years
Prevention, early detection and management of iron deficiency in children under 5 years at an ACCHO in far-western NSW
This study will measure the current burden of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in Maari Ma’s under-five-years Aboriginal population in Broken Hill and Wilcannia,…
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Empowering Aboriginal students to make healthy choices and improve their overall wellbeing
Evaluating the pilot Healthy Deadly Kids Program designed by the Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service
This project evaluates the pilot of the IAMS’ Healthy Deadly Kids (HDK) program, a culturally safe school-based health education initiative designed to improve the health…
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Strengthening the cultural determinants of Maaman Aboriginal health, spirit and wellbeing
Maaman Waankiny Wur Walbriny
The Maaman Waankiny Wur Walbriny (Men Talking and Healing) project seeks to undertake a feasibility study into how cultural healing activities, such as on-Country supports…
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