Research projects funded by the CRC for Aboriginal Health can
provide opportunities for everyone involved to learn and
develop.
Experienced researchers can learn from working
together with Aboriginal people and communities, or with
researchers from another discipline. This can help experienced
researchers carry out research that has greater impact and makes a
difference. (Read Ross Bailie's
story)
Beginning researchers learn from the other
researchers they are working with and by working together with
Aboriginal people and communities. This can be a very important
part of the training and development of a researcher, and can help
in gaining better qualifications and experience. (Read about
Healthy
Skin students' experience)
Individual Aboriginal people can learn from
working with researchers, about the value of their knowledge and of
the knowledge of researchers, and about how research can be of
benefit to them. Research projects can also provide opportunities
to gain skills and qualifications. (Read about the Gapuwiyak
community's involved in a research project)
Aboriginal organisations can also benefit and
learn from taking part in research. Research projects can help
organisations know what they are doing, how well they are doing it,
and how well that meets the needs of their clients. Best of all,
research projects can help organisations set up systems that help
them improve their services to their clients. (Read about
the
Victorian Aborginal Health Service's project)
Aboriginal communities can benefit from
research. Where researchers have built up good relationships with
communities over many years, the community might ask the researcher
for help when confronted with complex problems like mental health.
(Read about research
partnerships in South Australia).
The CRC for Aboriginal Health also supports capacity
exchange (two-way learning) between researchers,
Aboriginal people and government representatives by asking them to
work together in the setting of research priorities, the
development and carrying out of research projects, and in spreading
the message from the research findings. By working together in this
way, researchers, Aboriginal people and government representatives
see how much stronger the research can be, because it has been
informed by three often very different points of view.
