A research protocol – Indigenous culture, saves lives – Australian Indigenous cultural views and knowledge in health policy: A case study – the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013 – 2023

Carmen Parter, Shawn Wilson, Josephine Gwynn, John Skinner, Donna Hartz

In Australia, an evidence gap exists for governments and policymakers about what it means when the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are included in public policies.  Specifically, when the cultures of Indigenous Australians have been incorporated in a public health policy like the Australian Government’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 (Health Plan), how do policymakers implement – enable, embed, and enact – cultures?  More disturbing is the non-recognition of Indigenous culture’s innate relationship to the knowledges held by Indigenous Australians.  In recognition of the importance of Indigenous cultures to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, the centrality of culture in the Health Plan represents the first national Indigenous public policy that reflects its relevance.  This research protocol describes a public policy qualitative research study that aims to address this evidence gap by using the Health Plan as a case study.