Expressions of interest now open: join NCIRS’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reference Group

To ensure NCIRS is working to meet the needs of Australian First Nations peoples, stakeholders and communities, the Centre is seeking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to join its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reference Group.

The Group will collaborate with the Director and staff of NCIRS and other relevant stakeholders on optimising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander immunisation policy, research, surveillance, communication strategies, service delivery, and ways to increase vaccination timeliness and coverage.

We invite health service providers, academics, clinicians and public health professionals – as well as community members such as Elders, youth and parents who are not health professionals – to express their interest in joining the Group.

To do so, please send the following information to Associate Professor Kerry-Ann O’Grady (Senior Research Fellow, NCIRS) at kerryann.ogrady@health.nsw.gov.au:  

• Name 
• Job title (if applicable) 
• Organisation (if applicable) 
• Phone number 
• Email address 
• A brief summary of what you can bring to the group 
• A brief summary of why you would like to join the group. 

For more information, please contact Kerry-Ann via the email address above. 

Artwork commissioned by NCIRS: ‘Protect your mob – get vaccinated’
Samantha Williams (1988–2023; vale), Wiradjuri woman from Narrandera, NSW

NCIRS would like to recognise Samantha for her significant contribution to the community through her work in health and immunisation.

The artwork’s design represents our communities in the centre, from our home to the wider community. The symbols around the circle represent the people, both men and women – this could be anyone from mothers to fathers to gran. It is our responsibility to keep our mob healthy. We need to educate our younger generation and communities about the importance of immunisations and how they keep us protected. The lines going out from the circle represent our journeys, jobs and relocation and the impacts we have made along the way. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families may relocate from one community to another. We have mob all over – but no matter where we go, the story is the same: we need to protect our mob. So the smaller circles represent herd immunity across our communities, and the people that this has an impact on – our Elders, our babies and our people who cannot be immunised.