Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Cancer and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: creating space through governance and information to better drive health equity in Australia  (#127)

Kalinda Griffiths 1 2
  1. Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  2. University of NSW, -, NSW, Australia

There have been ongoing considerations with the collection and use of data used for research and reporting of cancer impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (hereafter, respectfully Aboriginal) in Australia. This has included issues with the under identification of Aboriginal people within the data, a willingness to identify within the data as well as whether those data collected represent the views and understandings of Aboriginal peoples. Much of this is a systems issue, and there are a range of factors that contribute to Aboriginal people engaging, or not, within health services and specialist care that can have ongoing impacts on individual outcomes as well as population level research and reporting. The data that is collected and used to describe cancer and Aboriginal people therefore requires a broader discussion to better support self-determination and to identify and report on Aboriginal priorities in the data. Asserting the fundamental rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the use of data requires the design and implementation of a process that enables and incorporates Aboriginal culture, including values, understandings, and aspects of Aboriginal of being and doing. This talk will discuss how efforts in Indigenous Data Governance to support the cancer journey for Aboriginal people can be better used to drive health equity within the nation.