A bridge between Indigenous knowledge and peer-reviewed knowledge needs to be better built

Growing up, my mother told me that I was more privileged than many of my fellow Indigenous brothers and sisters. I was not raised on a mission or reserve, and I had a large supportive family and access to education. I was always told to acknowledge this privilege and to use its benefits to give back to my community and people. I am a Wiradjuri woman who has grown up in the Worimi country. I am a mother, artist, community cultural development practitioner, social worker and now a PhD candidate in Aboriginal Health at the University of Newcastle, supported by a National Heart Foundation Indigenous Scholarship. I have a goal: to become an academic, a chief investigator, implementing health research in partnership and co-ownership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.