At the heart of successful co-design is ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives guide all components of the work you are doing.
Different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and groups will be involved in different ways and at different times.
Co-design is about providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the opportunity and means to be appropriately involved in any part or whole of an activity in a way that is safe and meaningful for them.
At times, this will mean taking full responsibility for the whole project. In these instances, the role of the health service or project team is to fill in any agreed gaps.
In other cases, there will be range of involvement. Some key individuals and groups will be centrally involved in planning the project through partnership arrangements or participation in a project team. Meanwhile, other people give oversight through project governance; while others are simply involved in consultation when you are gaining an understanding of the issue and testing and refining your initiative.
Co-design tips:
- Appropriate partners for an effective co-design project will depend on your location, who you work for, the reach or scope of the proposed program or service, and who funds the system.
- Engagement for place-based or service-level initiatives will require different stakeholder input to engagement for national policies or programs.
- It is important to bring together a diverse range of people with different backgrounds and experiences relevant to the issue or initiative.
Health system stakeholders relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
When identifying possible partners to work with or inform your project, consider ALL key stakeholder groups. These may include:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations*
- Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments
- Public and private health services and program providers
- Health service workforce (clinicians, managers and administrative)
- Non-government organisations
- Community representatives, including service users and people with lived experience of the issue and their families and carers
- The broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
- Individuals with extensive experience or expertise in the area
- Traditional healers
- Researchers and academic institutions
- Training and professional organisations
-
Private businesses
* Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are leading players in Australia’s healthcare system that provide holistic, responsive services tailored to the needs of their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. ACCHOs are initiated and operated by the local community they represent and are mechanisms for self-determination. The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is the national peak body representing 145 ACCHOs across the country. Find an ACCHO near you. The primary access point to engage an ACCHO is through the CEO.
Co-design tips:
- Start by talking about local context and issues and use these conversations to find out who might be best placed to provide insights and collaborate.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of your team or organisation may be able to provide valuable advice. However, bear in mind that from a community perspective, while your colleagues are at work they may be seen as organisational representatives rather than representative of community. It is likely you will need to bring in other stakeholders and voices as well.
“Governments and tertiary centres must build genuine partnerships and engage in shared decision-making with the ACCHO sector and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations from the beginning if there are to be improved cancer-related health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.”
