Publications

Creating healing-informed, strengths-based and culturally responsive services: Transforming health professional practice through the Australian fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) Indigenous Framework

This study explored what non-Aboriginal health professionals need to know, be and do to deliver healing-informed, strengths-based and culturally responsive PAE and FASD knowledge and support to Aboriginal peoples. The findings were interpreted through the Australian FASD Indigenous Framework, to deepen understanding and guide practice transformation.

Publishing Date:

8 November, 2025
Journal Name:

The Lowitja Journal
Authors:

Nicole Hewlett (Palawa), Vivian Lyall (Australian Settler, English/Scandinavian ancestry), Lorian Hayes (Iningai/Bidjara), Lindsay Wolfson (Settler in Canada with Polish/Russian ancestry), Robyn Williams (Noongar), Deborah Askew (New Zealand Pakeha), Karen Scofield (Margany), Natasha Reid (Settler in Australia with Irish/English ancestry)

A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial of Sublingual Melatonin for Sleep Onset Insomnia in Children With Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

Children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) present with significant sleep disturbance. This pilot trial aimed to examine the feasibility of conducting a larger randomised controlled trial (RCT) in this population and the potential effectiveness of melatonin to treat onset insomnia.

Publishing Date:

22 October, 2025
Journal Name:

Wiley Online Library
Authors:

Ned Chandler-Mather, Doug Shelton, Caroline Donovan, Haydn Till, Bronwyn M. Theroux, Sharon Dawe

The Marurra-U Partnership: providing a hybrid, multidisciplinary, wraparound model of care for Aboriginal children living with complex needs in the remote Fitzroy Valley, Australia

The aim of this study is to describe the development, characteristics, and implementation of the Marurra-U Partnership, which is a hybrid (telecare and in-person), multidisciplinary, wraparound model of care for children with complex neurodevelopmental needs and their families in the Fitzroy Valley, Kimberley Region, Western Australia.

Publishing Date:

20 October, 2025
Journal Name:

BMC Health Services Research
Authors:

Thomas Stubbs, Anita Pickard, Emily Carter, Sue Thomas, Jadnah Davies, Rosemary Evans, Dagney Hopp, Kim Casburn, Tuguy Esgin, Blake Angell, Elizabeth J Elliott, Alexandra Martiniuk

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Communities

Prevalence of prenatal alcohol use among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory, Australia: estimate from perinatal, emergency, and admission datasets

Prenatal Alcohol Use (PAU) has detrimental effects on mothers and their children. Robust estimates of the prevalence of PAU and associated risk factors are critical for informing interventions to reduce adverse health impacts. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of PAU among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mothers in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Publishing Date:

17 October, 2025
Journal Name:

BMC
Authors:

Behailu Derseh, Abel Dadi, Hoang Phan, Holger W Unger, Kiarna Brown, Demeke Mesfin Belay, Steven Guthridge

Does alcohol use and related harm differ based on the age of initiation to alcohol? Results from a prospective cohort study

There is evidence to suggest that earlier initiation to alcohol increases the rate and severity of alcohol consumption. However, this often overlooks the fact that earlier initiation also means a longer drinking history. This paper estimated differences in patterns of alcohol use and harm across adolescence and early adulthood, allowing for the fact that the patterns over time may differ depending on the age at which initiation occurred.

Publishing Date:

13 October, 2025
Journal Name:

Wiley Online Library
Authors:

Philip J Clare, Wing See Yuen, Alexandra Henderson, Kypros Kypri, Raimondo Bruno, Tim Slade, Delyse Hutchinson, Nyanda McBride, Monika Wodalowski, Jim McCambridge, Louisa Degenhardt, Veronica C Boland, Richard P Mattick, Amy Peacock

Research

Exploring Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) From an Aboriginal Lens in Western Australia: Survey Results to Inform Cultural Security, Policy, and Service Delivery

The exploration of awareness and knowledge on FASD amongst the Noongar people in the Southwest region of Western Australia (WA) was the focus of this research. FASD is a neurodevelopmental disability caused by prenatal alcohol exposure resulting in lifelong disabilities impacting children, families, kinship caregivers, foster carers, and communities.

Publishing Date:

28 September, 2025
Journal Name:

Wiley Online Library
Authors:

Robyn Williams, Miranda Farmer, Ken Kelly, Dorothy Badry, Jaya Dantas