16 December 2014 Cairney S and Abbott T. Interplay Project. National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) Chief Investigators Meeting, Adelaide, December 2014

1. Sheree Cairney
Principal Research Leader
Tammy Abbott
Senior Research Officer
Interplay Project

2. Research Questions
2
1. What are the relationships between health and wellbeing
outcomes, and education and employment for individuals,
families and communities living in remote Australia?
2. How effective are targeted interventions?
3. How can policy and practice be better informed by this
knowledge to maximise desired health and wellbeing
outcomes?
Interplay Project

3. Working together
Community
ResearchGovernment
3

4. Literature Review - Recommendations
4
1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved and
their perspectives represented
2. Strength-based approach
3. Focus on interrelationships
4. Include additional themes of culture, community and
empowerment
5. Broader culturally aligned definitions of education,
employment and health
Nguyen O, Cairney S. 2013 ‘Literature review of the Interplay Between
Education, Employment, Health and Wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people in remote areas: Working towards an Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander wellbeing framework’.
(named in the top ten Indigenous research
publications in 2013 by Australian Policy Online)

5. Community Engagement
5
Over 3-year period
- 21 workshops
- 11 semi-structured interviews with PRLs
- 4 community visits
- 2 advisory group meetings
- 21 ACRs employed
Cairney S and Abbott T. 2014. Aboriginal
Wellbeing in a ‘Red Dirt Economy’.
Journal of Australian Indigenous Studies.
Questions asked about
research approach,
framework and methods

6. Community Engagement - Outcomes
• Culture governs everything that people do
• Importance of building empowerment
• Broader understandings and flexible, culturally aligned
practices needed to achieve good outcomes for
education, employment and health
• All of these areas are inherently interrelated, or interplay
together
Cairney S and Abbott T. 2014. Aboriginal Wellbeing in a ‘Red Dirt Economy’.
Journal of Australian Indigenous Studies.

7. 7
Interplay Framework
• Links science, community &
policy systems
• Domains & sub-domains
• Quantitative data
surveys
school and health records
• Qualitative data
focus groups
photos and video
• Serves as a communication &
data mapping tool Wellbeing = feeling good
Interplay = connections

8. Get a picture…
8
..for different communities …& how they change over time
• Prospective cohort design
• 2 waves of data collection (2014 & 2015)
• 3 communities
• Approx n=800 surveys (15-34 years)
• 15 focus groups
This year
(wave 1)
Next year
(wave 2)

9. 9
The Interplay Project - Video

10. Aboriginal Community Researcher Program
A network of over 120 Aboriginal Community Researchers employeed across 60
communities over the last three years.
10

11. Interplay project – The way we work
11
Abbott T and Cairney S. 2014. Collaboration and Capacity Development
through the employment of Aboriginal Community-based Researchers:
Examples from the Interplay Project. Journal of Australian Indigenous Studies.

12. 12
Data collection on the ground

13. Field Work - Lessons & Challenges
13
• Working with partners and including their contribution
• Providing support from afar
• Local hosts
• Ceremonies / funerals
• Going through local job providers
• Training and support

14. 14
For further information, please contact:
Sheree Cairney
Email – sheree.cairney@nintione.com.au
Phone – 0438 121 473
Tammy Abbott
Email – tammy.abbott@nintione.com.au
Phone – (08) 7905-5522
www.crc-rep.com/interplay
Questions?