The Gaawaadhi Gadudha logo artwork is by Laurance Magick Dennis. It represents the meeting of fresh (Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay) and salt (Yuin-Djirringanj) water. The horseshoe-like shapes are people sitting around a fire. The oval image at the centre is a coolamon (traditional carrying vessel). The dots around the image are ancestors looking on.

While we use the word ‘Aboriginal’ to explain the terminology of ‘the health gap’ in current research and policy, we would like to acknowledge it as a colonised term. We advocate for shifting to the use of cultural group names as identifiers. Where this is not possible, we use ‘Indigenous’.

Cultural Health Model

We are developing a Model for Cultural Health for mob, other researchers and organisations working in Indigenous health. This model provides a blueprint for aspects that we see as necessary to facilitating cultural health.

This model brings together key components from our research: Country, Creation, lore, law, identity, language, knowledges, practices, health, spirit, continuity, reawakening, connection, protocols, access, rights, freedom, care, teaching & learning, rights.

The model is based on what Indigenous people who attended cultural camps told us they need to feel healthy and strong. Working with these findings, we developed and defined the model’s key components.