The MJA’s Special Collection on Indigenous Health for NAIDOC Week 2026

The Medical Journal of Australia begins publishing today a collection of articles to coincide with NAIDOC Week. This is a special collection that centres Indigenous knowledges and expertise. We will continue to publish articles from the MJA and Insight+ to add to the collection through 2026.

The panel of four Guest Editors are all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics: Dr Stephen Harfield (Narungga and Ngarrindjeri), Professor Michelle Kennedy (Wiradjuri), Ms Sophie Pitt (Meriam), Associate Professor Paul Saunders (Biripi).

Guest Editor Ms Sophie Pitt, a proud Torres Strait Islander woman (Meriam), said the guest authors take a strengths-based approach, which is community driven and self-focussed, rather than taking a deficit approach to research.

“I think it’s important to have a space within mainstream academic publishing where Indigenous researchers and community voices are heard and validated and respected,” Ms Pitt said.

Championing Indigenous ownership of Indigenous research

“The opportunity for Indigenous peoples to take ownership of a mainstream issue is really, really, important because I think what it does is it allows the mainstream readership of the Medical Journal of Australia to really understand what are the key research priorities as identified by Indigenous peoples, and how research is conducted in an appropriate way,” fellow guest editor Associate Professor Paul Saunders, who is a proud Biripi man, said.

“It’s a great opportunity for the Medical Journal of Australia to really take on and to provide the opportunity for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research community to have the special issue,” Ms Pitt said.

Fellow Guest Editor Dr Stephen Harfield, a proud Narungga and Ngarrindjeri man, says it contributes to capacity building for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“There’s the broader impact that it has in terms of translating and putting the evidence out there for the broader community but I also think it’s about capacity building.”

“It allows Indigenous ownership over research publication which has historically been completely lacking in terms of no opportunities,” he said.

A precedent for other journals to follow

The Guest Editors hope the collection will provide a role model for other journals and stakeholders to follow and privilege Indigenous research.

“It provides an opportunity for other research stakeholders whether they be journals or otherwise to look in to see what was the process that the MJA adopted and how successful that was and why was it successful, so I think it’s really important as almost a role model type scenario for the journal,” Assoc Prof Saunders said.

“There is Indigenous control over what is deemed important and what is deemed appropriate for publication and dissemination — so there is greater access to these Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, being and doing through this process,” he said.

Privileging the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people provides a lens for a greater understanding of their lived experiences, Dr Stephen Harfield said.

The Guest Editors say the standards of the Indigenous Collection are above and beyond traditional scientific based western research, and it strengthens the overall rigour in Indigenous health research.

“And so [there is] the added layer of not just receiving ethics for a research project but also ensuring that there is appropriate Indigenous governance,” he said.

The courage to challenge norms in research

To push against norms, bravery and courage are necessities.

“I mean we are contesting taken-for-granted approaches to research that lie outside of what would be considered the norm in the research sphere,” Assoc Prof Saunders said.

“So there’s a level of courage that you need and resilience that you need.”

“So that if you’re questioned by a reviewer and you truly believe that that is part of your way of knowing, being and doing, or it’s something that the community in which you’ve been a part of is part of their lived experience or their truth, then I think the bravery and the courage to challenge that or to assert that if it is challenged is really, really important,” Assoc Prof Saunders said.

“I do think there is a level of bravery and courage that’s needed and resilience that’s needed to persist and to succeed in this space,” he said.

“We have to ensure that type of rigour while also ensuring that it is community informed, community led, led by Indigenous peoples,” Assoc Prof Saunders said.

Ms Pitt said it was her first experience in this role.

“I learned a lot from some really accomplished and incredible Indigenous academics,” she said.

The guest editorial team are a part of this week’s MJA podcast. Listen here.

View the Special Collection here.