Ross Bailie is one of the most experienced researchers working
with the CRC for Aboriginal Health. Born in South Africa,
he’s been working at the Menzies School of Health Research in
Aboriginal health since 1998, and before that in New Zealand and
South Africa.
Ross is the project leader for a number of the CRC for
Aboriginal Health’s most successful projects, including the
ABCD (Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease) project that is
now operating within more than 40 communities. As a CRC for
Aboriginal Health Program Leader, he’s also been
integrally involved with the development of the CRC’s new
approach to research development.
Ross says the two Aboriginal health CRCs (the CRC for Aboriginal
Health and the CRC for Aboriginal and Tropical Health) have
provided him with critical opportunities to learn.
'The priorities and principles of the CRC appealed to me from
the outset. Part of the reason for that is that those principles
and priorities are things that I strongly support, but which
generally seem to get lost in the process for assessing research
proposals for most research funding organisations. The CRC has
retained a strong emphasis on the importance of their principles
and priorities.
'I’ve learned a lot from my involvement and gained a lot
in terms of networks, financially, in expertise and collaborative
opportunities. In particular, I’ve learned to think more
deeply about how research transfer and capacity development can be
built into projects.
'What the CRC for Aboriginal Health has done is worked hard at
making the principles and priorities for Indigenous research
explicit, and put good processes in place to work those
through.
'It's given people like me access to that information, and
created a space for people to talk and learn about a whole lot of
things, including the politics of Aboriginal health research, how
that’s evolved, and how to work within that environment.
'So something else I’ve learned is how the CRC for
Aboriginal Health and the people within it—including
myself—have managed to create that space. And we continue to
learn as we go through the research development process.
'It’s a learning organisation and the opportunities from
that are fantastic.'
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