The Lowitja Institute CRC

The Lowitja Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC

The Lowitja Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC (Lowitja Institute CRC) commenced operations on 1 July 2014, following in the footsteps of its predecessor organisations: the CRC for Aboriginal and Tropical Health (1996–2003), the CRC for Aboriginal Health (2003–2009), and the CRC for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (2010–2014). The Australian Government funded Lowitja Institute CRC activities to 30 June 2019 through its CRC Programme, with funds and in-kind support provided by our participants. While operations ceased on 30 June, a number of activities, including the preparation of our annual report, are ongoing until 31 October 2019. 

Lowitja Institute became a community controlled organisation in 2019 and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, led by a Board and operating from its head offices in Melbourne. 

The Lowitja Institute CRC brought together the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, government health agencies and research institutions to ensure that research conducted into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is controlled by and benefits Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

It developed three research programs that promoted high-quality research through partnerships with key stakeholders in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, government agencies and research institutions. It also conducted roundtables and workshops to identify the specific areas of research for the three programs.

Through its work, the Lowitja Institute CRC aimed to:

• promote high-quality research through increased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander control of the health research agenda and through partnerships with key stakeholders in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, government agencies and research institutions
• undertake strategic research to investigate health conditions, health service delivery systems and the social determinants of health
• ensure the effective transfer of research findings into policy and practice to improve primary healthcare, to build sustainable prevention and to reduce the disease burden on Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• build capacity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to allow greater control of health research through increased formal education and training opportunities
• advocate in line with our communications strategy for research-informed changes to the delivery of health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

To guide this effort the Lowitja Institute has identified five key principles that underpin our approach to research. These are:

1. Beneficence – to act for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the conduct of our research
2. Leadership by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Engagement of research end users (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities, policymakers, other potential research users)
3. Development of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research workforce, and
4. Measurement of impact in improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health.