Towards Formal Recognition

Suffering high mortality and morbidity rates from conditions related to tobacco use Australia is considered to be a leader among developed nations in the area of tobacco control. Well coordinated...

‘Historiographic Metafiction’ (HM) is a literary term first coined by creative writing academic Linda Hutcheon in 1988, and which refers to the postmodern practice of a fiction author inserting imagined--or illegitimate--characters into narratives that are intended to be received as authentic and historically accurate, that is, ostensibly legitimate. Such adventurous and bold authorial strategies frequently result in “novels which are both intensely self-reflexive and yet paradoxically also lay claim to historical events and personages” (Hutcheon, A Poetics 5). They can be so entertaining and engaging that the overtly intertextual, explicitly inventive work of biographical HM can even change the “hegemonic discourse of history” (Nunning 353) for, as Philippa Gregory, the author of HM novel The Other Boleyn Girl (2001), has said regarding this genre of creative writing: “Fiction is about imagined feelings and thoughts. History depends on the outer life. The novel is always about the inner life. Fiction can sometimes do more than history. It can fill the gaps” (University of Sussex). In a way, this article will be filling one of the gaps regarding HM.Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) is possibly the best known cinematic example of HM, and this film version of the 1986 novel by Winston Groom particularly excels in seamlessly inserting images of a fictional character into verified history, as represented by well-known television newsreel footage. In Zemeckis’s adaptation, gaps were created in the celluloid artefact and filled digitally with images of the actor, Tom Hanks, playing the eponymous role. Words are often deemed less trustworthy than images, however, and fiction is considered particularly unreliable--although there are some exceptions conceded. In addition to Gregory’s novel; Midnight’s Children (1980) by Salman Rushdie; The Name of the Rose (1983) by Umberto Eco; and The Flashman Papers (1969-2005) by George MacDonald Fraser, are three well-known, loved and lauded examples of literary HM, which even if they fail to convince the reader of their bona fides, nevertheless win a place in many hearts. But despite the genre’s popularity, there is nevertheless a conceptual gap in the literary theory of Hutcheon given her (perfectly understandable) inability in 1988 to predict the future of e-publishing. This article will attempt to address that shortcoming by exploring the potential for authors of HM e-novels to use hyperlinks which immediately direct the reader to fact providing webpages such as those available at the website Wikipedia, like a much speedier (and more independent) version of the footnotes in Fraser’s Flashman novels.Of course, as Roland Barthes declared in 1977, “the text is a tissue of quotations drawn from innumerable centres of culture” (146) and, as per any academic work that attempts to contribute to knowledge, a text’s sources--its “quotations”--must be properly identified and acknowledged via checkable references if credibility is to be securely established. Hence, in explaining the way claims to fact in the HM novel can be confirmed by independently published experts on the Internet, this article will also address the problem Hutcheon identifies, in that for many readers the entirety of the HM novel assumes questionable authenticity, that is, the novel’s “meta-fictional self-reflexivity (and intertextuality) renders their claims to historical veracity somewhat problematic, to say the least” ("Historiographic Metafiction: Parody", 3). This article (and the PhD in creative writing I am presently working on at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia) will possibly develop the concept of HM to a new level: one at which the Internet-connected reader of the hyperlinked e-novel is made fully (and even instantly) aware of those literary elements of the narrative that are legitimate and factual as distinct from those that are fictional, that is, illegitimate. Furthermore, utilising examples from my own (yet-to-be published) hyperlinked HM e-novel, this article demonstrates that such hyperlinking can add an ironic sub-text to a fictional character’s thoughts and utterances, through highlighting the reality concerning their mistaken or naïve beliefs, thus creating HM narratives that serve an entertainingly complex yet nevertheless truly educational purpose.As a relatively new and under-researched genre of historical writing, HM differs dramatically from the better known style of standard historical or biographical narrative, which typically tends to emphasise mimesis, the cataloguing of major “players” in historical events and encyclopaedic accuracy of dates, deaths and places. Instead, HM involves the re-contextualisation of real-life figures from the past, incorporating the lives of entirely (or, as in the case of Gregory’s Mary Boleyn, at least partly) fictitious characters into their generally accepted famous and factual activities, and/or the invention of scenarios that gel realistically--but entertainingly--within a landscape of well-known and well-documented events. As Hutcheon herself states: “The formal linking of history and fiction through the common denominators of intertextuality and narrativity is usually offered not as a reduction, as a shrinking of the scope and value of fiction, but rather as an expansion of these” ("Intertextuality", 11). Similarly, Gregory emphasises the need for authors of HM to extend themselves beyond the encyclopaedic archive: “Archives are not history. The trouble with archives is that the material is often random and atypical. To have history, you have to have a narrative” (University of Sussex). Functionally then, HM is an intertextual narrative genre which serves to communicate to a contemporary audience an expanded story or stories of the past which present an ultimately more self-reflective, personal and unpredictable authorship: it is a distinctly auteurial mode of biographical history writing for it places the postmodern author’s imaginative “signature” front and foremost.Hutcheon later clarified that the quest for historical truth in fiction cannot possibly hold up to the persuasive powers of a master novelist, as per the following rationale: “Fact is discourse-defined: an event is not” ("Historiographic Metafiction", 843). This means, in a rather simplistic nutshell, that the new breed of HM novel writer is not constrained by what others may call fact: s/he knows that the alleged “fact” can be renegotiated and redefined by an inventive discourse. An event, on the other hand, is responsible for too many incontrovertible consequences for it to be contested by her/his mere discourse. So-called facts are much easier for the HM writer to play with than world changing events. This notion was further popularised by Ansgar Nunning when he claimed the overtly explicit work of HM can even change the “hegemonic discourse of history” (353). HM authors can radically alter, it seems, the way the reader perceives the facts of history especially when entertaining, engaging and believable characters are deliberately devised and manipulated into the narrative by the writer. Little wonder, then, that Hutcheon bemoans the unfortunate reality that for many readers the entirety of a HM work assumes questionable “veracity” due to its author’s insertion of imaginary and therefore illegitimate personages.But there is an advantage to be found in this, the digital era, and that is the Internet’s hyperlink. In our ubiquitously networked electronic information age, novels written for publication as e-books may, I propose, include clickable links on the names of actual people and events to Wikipedia entries or the like, thus strengthening the reception of the work as being based on real history (the occasional unreliability of Wikipedia notwithstanding). If picked up for hard copy publication this function of the HM e-novel can be replicated with the inclusion of icons in the printed margins that can be scanned by smartphones or similar gadgets. This small but significant element of the production reinforces the e-novel’s potential status as a new form of HM and addresses Hutcheon’s concern that for HM novels, their imaginative but illegitimate invention of characters “renders their claims to historical veracity somewhat problematic, to say the least” ("Historiographic Metafiction: Parody", 3).Some historic scenarios are so little researched or so misunderstood and discoloured by the muddy waters of time and/or rumour that such hyperlinking will be a boon to HM writers. Where an obscure facet of Australian history is being fictionalised, for example, these edifying hyperlinks can provide additional background information, as Glenda Banks and Martin Andrew might have wished for when they wrote regarding Bank’s Victorian goldfields based HM novel A Respectable Married Woman. This 2012 printed work explores the lives of several under-researched and under-represented minorities, such as settler women and Aboriginal Australians, and the author Banks lamented the dearth of public awareness regarding these peoples. Indeed, HM seems tailor-made for exposing the subaltern lives of those repressed individuals who form the human “backdrop” to the lives of more famous personages. Banks and Andrew explain:To echo the writings of Homi K. Bhaba (1990), this sets up a creative site for interrogating the dominant, hegemonic, ‘normalised’ master narratives about the Victorian goldfields and ‘re-membering’ a marginalised group - the women of the goldfields, the indigenous [sic], the Chinese - and their culture (2013).In my own hyperlinked short story (presently under consideration for publishing elsewhere), which is actually a standalone version of the first chapter of a full-length HM e-novel about Aboriginal Australian activists Eddie Mabo and Chicka Dixon and the history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, entitled The Bullroarers, I have focussed on a similarly unde

Evolving Commemorations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Military Service Noah Riseman (bio) In 1995 Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs sponsored a series of commemorations dubbed Australia Remembers 1945–1995. A review indicated that over 70 percent of Australians and 90 percent of ex-service organizations and communities participated in associated events.1 Yet state reports suggested that one segment of the population did not significantly participate: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. These are Australia’s two Indigenous peoples: Aboriginal people’s traditional lands are on mainland Australia and Tasmania; while Torres Strait Islanders’ traditional lands are the islands of the Torres Strait, separating Australia from Papua New Guinea. Historian Liz Reed argues that the underparticipation of Indigenous communities during Australia Remembers underscored the different agendas of non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians. Both Prime Minister Paul Keating and Veterans’ Affairs Minister Con Sciacca emphasized narratives of racial unity during the war, reflecting the Keating government’s Reconciliation agenda. Although Indigenous Australians did want their war service recognized, they also wanted reparations for their war efforts and recognition of their ongoing marginalization within Australia.2 Flash-forward twenty years to the centenary of the First World War, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion in commemorative events was quite conspicuous. Indeed, in the new millennium there has been a “boom” in commemorations of Indigenous military [End Page 80] service. To an extent this is a symptom of the global “memory boom,” but it is also a significant consequence of the Reconciliation movement and the History Wars.3 The Reconciliation movement of the 1990s sought to unite Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through new understandings of shared histories, including discussions about violent colonial dispossession. While many Australians embraced the Reconciliation movement, among other sectors of the population there was a backlash against supposed special treatment accorded to Indigenous Australians.4 Part of this backlash manifested as the History Wars, which coincided with the 1996–2007 government of John Howard. Conservative pundits argued that academic historians exaggerated frontier violence and child removal, painting a wholly negative, “black armband” vision of Australian history. Most academic historians and public intellectuals retorted that conservatives were whitewashing Australian history to suit nationalist agendas.5 Indigenous military service comfortably transcended the History Wars while also supporting Reconciliation by showing a history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians working together. Invoking the language of shared sacrifice and Indigenous inclusion within Australia’s Anzac mythology spoke a language palatable to conservative Australian values. Amidst this wider sociopolitical context, new Indigenous ex-service organizations emerged and received support from local, state, and federal governments for memorials, marches, and services. The boom in Indigenous military commemorations also parallels a widespread valuing of military achievement in Australian society. Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds, among other historians, have criticized this “militarization of Australian history.” They argue that the valorization of military achievement in Australia is a deliberately manipulated act of conservative propaganda seeking to undermine public memory of colonization and to marginalize the place of Aboriginal victims of frontier violence in Australian history.6 Yet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have also demonstrated a wish to honor their servicemen and servicewomen and have been doing so since the First World War. Such practices have incorporated Indigenous traditions while concurrently asserting military service as a legitimizing claim to Australian citizenship rights. The escalation of such commemorations in recent years and its increasing recognition by non-Indigenous Australians is in keeping with the global memory boom. While it may be argued that this offers a version of Indigenous Australian history that is “safe” for conservative, nationalistic, military-focused consumption, the boom has not diverted attention from the settler violence and Indigenous resistance to colonialism, sometimes dubbed the frontier wars.7 On the contrary, it has drawn attention to that missing chapter in the national military story. This [End Page 81] article will chronologically outline the history of commemorations of Australian Indigenous military service from the early, locally organized events to the recent boom in state and national commemorations. It relies on a mixture of Indigenous and newspaper sources, and the newspaper sources are especially interesting because they reveal examples of Indigenous participation in...

BackgroundChlamydia infections are notified at much higher rates in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people compared to non-Indigenous people. The Australian Collaboration Chlamydia Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance System (ACCESS) was established to complement population-based surveillance.MethodsWe describe patient demographics, completeness of recording of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (‘Aboriginal’) status, chlamydia testing rates and positivity rates from the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHSs), General Practice (GP) clinics and Sexual Health Services (SHSs) networks in ACCESS during 2009. Data were extracted from electronic medical records of each participating health service for consultations with patients aged 16–29 years and for chlamydia testing and positivity.ResultsData were included from 16–29 year olds attending six ACCHSs (n = 4,950); 22 SHSs (n = 20,691) and 25 GP clinics (n = 34,462). Aboriginal status was unknown for 79.3% of patients attending GP clinics, 4.5% attending SHSs and 3.8% of patients attending ACCHSs. Chlamydia testing rates among Aboriginal patients were 19.8% (95%CI:18.6%-21.0%) at ACCHSs, 75.5% (95% CI:72.5%-78.4%) at SHSs and 4.3% (95% CI: 2.6%-6.6%) at GP clinics. Positivity rates were highest in Aboriginal patients tested at SHSs at 22.7% (95% CI:19.5%-26.2%), followed by 15.8% (95% CI:3.8%-43.4%) at GP clinics and 8.6% at ACCHSs (95% CI:7.9%-12.4%). This compared with non-Indigenous patients positivity rates at SHSs of 12.7% (95% CI:12.2-13.2%); 8.6% (7.2%-11.3%) at GP clinics and 11.3% at ACCHSs (95% CI:15.4%-24.9%).ConclusionsHigher chlamydia positivity in Aboriginal people across a range of clinical services is reflected in national notification data. Targeted efforts are required to improve testing rates in primary care services; to improve identification of Aboriginal patients in mainstream services such as GP clinics; and to better engage with young Aboriginal Australians.

Australian Aboriginal people have had to engage in the dominant education system since colonisation. In this paper we have focused on the many debates and policies issues in regards to the failure of the education system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians from the 1840s until the present day. The discourses in contemporary times have centred on, the void of Aboriginal Australian experiences in the history of this country, school attendance, educational theory and pedagogies, social justice, cultural deficit and socio-cultural factors. It is our position that quality education in the form of policy and practice that embraces a two-way education will enhance educational out comes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Recently, national and state governments have written educational policies that provide for the embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content within curriculum areas however, it is still debatable whose perspective is being taught due to western pedagogical practices. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander epistemology and ontology is rarely considered to be a viable tool in the dominant education system. Our research engages in the historical and contemporary mainstream perspectives and provides an Aboriginal perspective for the debates on education in Australia.

The Australian response to COVID-19 demonstrates how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, partnership, and self-determination are critical in ensuring public health measures and pandemic response planning is effective for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This chapter outlines the key evidence-based recommendations and actions developed by three national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led groups, in meaningful partnership with government, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander response to COVID-19, led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities, has been renowned across the world. This highlights the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance and leadership in leading the pandemic response for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and further illustrates the strengths of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander response to COVID-19 when priority reforms are heard and implemented by government.Throughout this chapter, mental health and well-being responses related to COVID-19 are particularly emphasised. Mental health experts predict that the mental health and well-being issues exacerbated by the pandemic will persist for many years (Savage, Coronavirus: The possible long-term mental health impacts, 2020). The mental health and well-being impacts of COVID-19 are of particular significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who experience significant well-being disparities associated with the historical, political, and social determinants of health, arising from colonisation (Dudgeon et al., Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice, 2014). Together, the recommendations outlined here provide an effective base to plan for the long-term recovery of mental health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from COVID-19 and ensure the preparedness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities for future pandemics.KeywordsAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplesCOVID-19 responseSelf-determinationGovernment partnershipIndigenous governanceSocial and emotional well-beingCultural determinantsHousingWorkforceDigital inclusion

Objective To provide an overview of previous reviews of programs that aimed to improve nutritional status or diet-related health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in order to determine what programs are effective and why. Methods A systematic search of databases and relevant websites was undertaken to identify reviews of nutrition interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Pairs of reviewers undertook study selection and data extraction and performed quality assessment using a validated tool. Results Twelve papers reporting 11 reviews were identified. Two reviews were rated high quality, three were rated medium and six were rated low quality. The reviews demonstrated that a positive effect on nutrition and chronic disease indicators can be a result of: 1) incorporating nutrition and breastfeeding advice into maternal and child health care services; and 2) multifaceted community nutrition programs. The evidence suggests that the most important factor determining the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food and nutrition programs is community involvement in (and, ideally, control of) program development and implementation. Conclusions Community-directed food and nutrition programs, especially those with multiple components that address the underlying causes of nutrition issues, can be effective in improving nutrition-related outcomes. What is known about the topic? More effective action is urgently required in order to reduce the unacceptable health inequalities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. Food insecurity and nutrition-related chronic conditions are responsible for a large proportion of the ill health experienced by Australia's First Peoples. What does this paper add? This narrative overview of 11 reviews published between 2005 and 2015 provides a synthesis of the current evidence for improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition across the lifespan. The findings suggest that community-based and community-controlled programs, especially those with multiple components that address the underlying causes of nutrition issues, have the greatest potential to improve nutrition-related health outcomes. What are the implications for practitioners? Food and nutrition programs that are initiated and designed by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are most likely to be effective. Nutrition and breastfeeding education and advice should be consistently incorporated into maternal and child healthcare services. Nutrition issues should be addressed through multifaceted approaches that address improving individual knowledge and skills, as well as strategies that increase access to nutritious food and provide a healthy food environment.

Stone arrangements are frequently encountered on the Australian mainland and islands. They have high significance values to Indigenous Australians and are usually associated with the material expression and emplacement of socio-religious beliefs and associated ceremonial/ritual activities. Despite their ubiquity, stone arrangements are an understudied site type with their distribution and morphological variability remaining poorly documented and their functional variability poorly understood. Although in most parts of Australia the authorship of stone arrangements is unambiguously Aboriginal, for far north Queensland this is less clear for places where Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, and more recently South Sea Islanders, all with documented traditions of stone arrangement construction and use, are known to have operated. A comparative stylistic analysis of stone arrangements constructed by Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders and Island Melanesians of the southwest Pacific reveals that although Lizard Island Group stone arrangements are predominately of Aboriginal authorship, some arrangements exhibit cultural influences from neighbouring areas. In this respect, Lizard Island Group stone arrangements appear to be a further material expression of the Torres Strait Cultural Complex and Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere.

BackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience greater dementia prevalence at a younger age than non‐Indigenous Australians. Place influences health outcomes, yet urban‐rural effects on brain ageing remain unclear. Whilst rural regions may lack adequate health resourcing, existing local strengths such as connection to Country, proximity to Community and culturally appropriate care can support healthy brain ageing and dementia care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in these areas. This study employed research yarning, an Indigenous methodology, to examine the influence of Place on dementia prevention and care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.MethodsResearch methodology was designed to ensure cultural safety, integrating Indigenous and Western approaches. Research yarns on dementia prevention and care were held with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non‐Indigenous community members (n = 42) and healthcare professionals (n = 24) across one metropolitan, three regional/rural, and two remote sites in New South Wales, Australia. Thematic analysis was conducted by Aboriginal and non‐Indigenous researchers using inductive and deductive coding.ResultsKey themes included Community understanding of brain ageing, relationships between Place and brain ageing, service accessibility, and availability of training relating to dementia care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Maintaining cognitive health to share intergenerational experiences is a key foundation of ageing well for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across rural strata. Strengths relating to dementia prevention include the embedding of cardiovascular health in primary care, regular contact with family and Indigenous health providers, and, especially in more rural areas, connection to traditional knowledges. Barriers include limited awareness of brain health strategies among Community and healthcare providers and differing perceptions of declining cognition. Gaps in culturally appropriate approaches impair adequate dementia care with a lack of service availability and coordination more evident in rural areas.ConclusionsHealth for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is holistic and collectivist, reflecting the conditions of Place and Community. With almost half of dementia risk modifiable over the life course, leveraging existing cultural strengths, including the regenerative capacity of Community, especially in rural settings, offers an innovative approach to dementia prevention and care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Bilirubin concentration is positively associated with haemoglobin concentration and inversely associated with albumin to creatinine ratio among Indigenous Australians: eGFR Study

Creating walking tracks to success: A narrative analysis of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students’ stories of success

It is a priority for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians living with kidney failure to receive best practice care. Commencing dialysis with pre-formed access (arteriovenous fistula, arteriovenous graft, or peritoneal dialysis catheter) is considered best practice, however rates remain low. Data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are limited. This study aims to establish the differences in rates of pre-formed dialysis access between Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians. Using the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplantation Registry we considered all Australian adult patients commencing chronic dialysis (1/1/2004 - 31/12/2020), comparing rates of pre-formed dialysis access between Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people, and evaluated the association with geographical remoteness and late referral. Of 43273 people commencing dialysis, 56.7% had pre-formed dialysis access. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were less likely to commence dialysis with pre-formed access (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.75 CI 0.68-0.83). For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people living remotely, the disparity was greater (aOR 0.45 CI 0.32-0.65). Of the 20% of the cohort referred late, rates of pre-formed dialysis access were lowest (24.5%), but the association with ethnicity was no longer apparent (aOR 0.87 CI 0.69-1.08). Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, especially those living remotely, are less likely to receive best-practice care when commencing dialysis. Co-created, culturally safe models to improve dialysis preparation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are essential to close the gap in health outcomes.

BackgroundLow plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are a strong, independent, but poorly understood risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although this atherogenic lipid abnormality has been widely reported in Australia’s Indigenous peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the evidence has not come under systematic review. This review therefore examines published data for Indigenous Australians reporting 1) mean HDL-C levels for both sexes and 2) factors associated with low HDL-C.MethodsPubMed, Medline and Informit ATSI Health databases were systematically searched between 1950 and 2012 for studies on Indigenous Australians reporting mean HDL-C levels in both sexes. Retrieved studies were evaluated by standard criteria. Low HDL-C was defined as: <1.0 mmol/L. Analyses of primary data associating measures of HDL-C with other CVD risk factors were also performed.ResultsFifteen of 93 retrieved studies were identified for inclusion. These provided 58 mean HDL-C levels; 29 for each sex, most obtained in rural/regional (20%) or remote settings (60%) and including 51–1641 participants. For Australian Aborigines, mean HDL-C values ranged between 0.81-1.50 mmol/L in females and 0.76-1.60 mmol/L in males. Two of 15 studies reported HDL-C levels for Torres Strait Islander populations, mean HDL-C: 1.00 or 1.11 mmol/L for females and 1.01 or 1.13 mmol/L for males. Low HDL-C was observed only in rural/regional and remote settings - not in national or urban studies (n = 3) in either gender. Diabetes prevalence, mean/median waist-to-hip ratio and circulating C-reactive protein levels were negatively associated with HDL-C levels (all P < 0.05). Thirty-four per cent of studies reported lower mean HDL-C levels in females than in males.ConclusionsVery low mean HDL-C levels are common in Australian Indigenous populations living in rural and remote communities. Inverse associations between HDL-C and central obesity, diabetes prevalence and inflammatory markers suggest a particularly adverse CVD risk factor profile. An absence of sex dichotomy in HDL-C levels warrants further investigation.

First Nations Peoples have a long history of living in Australia’s changing climate and a deep knowledge of their traditional estate (‘Country’). However, human-induced climate change raises unforeseen risks to the health of First Nations Peoples—especially in remotely located communities. This includes the Torres Strait Islands, where a local leader asked our Torres Strait Islander co-author, ’We know that you will return to your Country—unlike previous researchers. So how can you help with climate change?’ In response, this research describes four core values focused on supporting First Nations Peoples’ health and wellbeing: co-design, appropriate governance, support for self-determination, and respectfully incorporating Indigenous Knowledges into health-protective climate initiatives. Supporting the health and wellbeing of Torres Strait Islanders to continue living in the remote Torres Strait Islands in a changing climate can enable long-term care for Country, maintenance of culture, and a sense of identity for First Nations Peoples. Ensuring these core values are implemented can support the health of present and future generations and will likely be applicable to other First Nations communities.

Developing Magical Consciousness: A Theoretical and Practical Guide for the Expansion of Perception