Anti-Racism Project - Official Launch

The Indigenous Oral Health Unit (IOHU), launched in 2011 as part of the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH) at the University of Adelaide, seeks to improve oral health and access to dental care for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Our team have been working in partnership with Nunga Communities and Organisations for the past 15 years; these relationships have led to longitudinal studies with both children and adults in South Australia as well as a national project that started last year.

The IOHU team have officially launched their Anti-Racism project this month: THE MOUTH AS AN EXPRESSION OF RACIAL INJUSTICE: Building the evidence to foster an anti-racist dental health system in Australia. The overall aim of this study is to apply evidence and best practice for dental health system changes that foster the provision of anti-racist dental care in Australia, allowing us to continue building the skillset of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, and trainees.

The project has 3 collaborative objectives:

• Develop and implement an anti-racist curriculum for dental students that can be robustly evaluated.
• Improve the attraction, retention, and wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dental workforce, and
• Develop an oral health promotion training module for Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners, that can be comprehensively assessed and disseminated to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across the country.  

We are grateful to the governance groups that oversee all of IOHU’s work, particularly for the anti-racism project which has 25 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders from 12 key organisations that span across the country, including: Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (including Yadu Health, Moorundi, Umoona Tjutagku, VACCHO), Indigenous Dental Association of Australia, SA Dental, Australian Dental Association, Ahpra, Deakin University, Preventive Health SA, Flinders University and the University of Adelaide’s Indigenous Oral Health Unit. Most importantly, we thank the 3200+ Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community members and health workers for their leadership and contributions to our programs.

The project is led by Joanne Hedges, Prof Lisa Jamieson, Dr Brianna Poirier, and Dr Dandara Haag and funded by the Medical Research Futures Fund until June 2026.