Jessica Knight is in her final year of the postgraduate Doctor of Medicine, studying on Whadjuk Nyoongar Country at the University of Western Australia. Jessica will be starting work as a Junior Doctor next year at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. She acknowledges the Nyoongar Peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands and seas where she is privileged to study, live and play. Jessica is presenting on behalf of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP) and the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP). The work she is presenting was conducted under the guidance of Professor Pat Dudgeon (director of CBPATSISP) and Associate Professor Roz Walker. Over the past 5 years, Jessica has worked across various research teams with strong Indigenous governance at Telethon Kids Institute and has had the privilege to undertake placements as a Student Doctor at Aboriginal Medical Services across WA, including on Yingarrda Country and Yamatji Country. She approaches these placements with an openness to learn, with deep listening, from Aboriginal leadership, from the patients and from the broader communities. In aspiring to be the best medical professional that she can be, Jessica is prioritising cultural safety and working towards a just healthcare system, meaning she will never stop listening, learning and backing self-determined voices that hold the power for change.

Sam is a non-Indigenous audiologist, living on Gadigal land in Sydney, NSW. She has worked with Hearing Australia in clinical roles and as Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander program lead. Since 2019, Sam has worked on a range of research projects, a common thread being equitable access to ear health and hearing care for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Each responded to needs identified by the community, featured Aboriginal leadership and co-design, benefited participants, and led to changes in policy and practice. Sam provides clinical services on Arrernte country in central Australia.

Dr Rosemary Wyber is a general practitioner and researcher focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cardiovascular health. Dr Wyber completed her medical training New Zealand, her Master of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and general practice training in Aboriginal Community Controlled Clinics in the Northern Territory. She completed her PhD on policy options to end RHD in Australia in 2022 and was lead author of the RHD Endgame Strategy to eliminate RHD in Australia by 2031. Dr Wyber is a research fellow within the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University and Telethon Kids Institute.

Mary has worked extensively in Aboriginal health over many years including as a GP in desert communities and as the Medical Director at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. She has held positions in research teams and as a policy and/or clinical advisor in wide-ranging areas including primary care, population health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, efficacy of service models, and safety and quality of health care. Mary has long-standing interests in health equity, value-based healthcare, knowledge translation, and what it takes to support safe, high quality primary healthcare particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Mary led the development of updated recommendations for annual health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2019 and has worked closely with the CSIRO and with software vendors on integration of these recommendations into clinical software. Current work includes developing recommendations for components and timing of ear health and hearing checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and as Clinical Lead in the NACCHO-RACGP Partnership which is developing the fourth edition of the National guide to preventive healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, due for publication in late 2023.

Dr Ngaree Blow is a Quandamooka and Yorta-Yorta woman and has grown up on Wurundjeri country in Naarm (Melbourne). She currently works in Public Health and preventative medicine in both her roles as Senior Lecturer and the Director of the Wurru Wurru Health Unit for the medical school at the University of Melbourne and founder of social enterprise “It’s a mob Thing” music health festivals, bringing together musicians with health promotion and education initiatives. Ngaree is a previous board director and current member of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) and has been involved in many First Nations health, research, policy and education roles.