Project timeline

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet (HealthInfoNet) developed the Nganampa website in 1999 and 2000. Nganampa Health Council is an Aboriginal community controlled comprehensive primary health care service that has been operating on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the far north and west of South Australia since the mid-1980s.

The HealthInfoNet partnered with NACCHO on the development of their website. NACHHO is the national peak body representing over 150 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across Australia.

The HealthInfoNet partnered with Derbarl Yerrigan and the Heart Foundation of Western Australia (WA) for the South West Heart Health Project. This project recruited Health Workers from the South West of WA for professional mentoring and training on cardiovascular disease and associated health risk factors and provided online information about heart health.

The HealthInfoNet developed websites for the Ngaanyatjarra Council and Koori Health Research Group

The HealthInfoNet worked with Derbarl Yerrigan Health Services Inc to develop their website

The HealthInfoNet developed the WACCHO website. WACCHO is now known as the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (AHCWA).

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with:

• the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) of New South Wales to develop three models
• the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) in Western Australia and the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council (ADAC) in South Australia on providing substance use information
• the Office of Aboriginal Health WA with the redevelopment of their website
• the Aboriginal Disability Network to update the IndigAbility website
• the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in the development of a submission to establish an accessible repository of published and unpublished literature for Indigenous researchers and students, policy planners and program managers.

The HealthInfoNet:

• evaluated the CUCRH’s WA Health Promotion mailing list
• developed the Sustainable Communities Network website

The HealthInfoNet assist the development of a more effective national service delivery response for communities supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability, especially those living in remote parts of Australia.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding to include HIV, Respiratory health and Eye health.

The HealthInfoNet, as part of a consortium, secured funding to develop a new road safety section.

The Touchscreen Project was a consortium organisations including the HealthInfoNet that developed health information for rural and remote communities of North Queensland through touchscreen kiosks and CD ROMs. The project also provided training for health workers and the development of databases on alcohol use, arthritis and injury, expand the existing patient recall system, as well as training members of the community in the use of information technology.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding for a Tobacco project

The HealthInfoNet was funded by Beyond Blue to conduct a scoping study of depression among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with the Office of Aboriginal Affairs on developing the WA health promotion and WA pages of the HealthInfoNet.

https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/states-territories-home/wa

The HealthInfoNet secured national funding to expand the Indigenous road safety and yarning place.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding to add more yarning places including Ear, Substance use, and the WA Indigenous Health Promotion Network (WAIHPN). http://www.yarning.org.au/

The HealthInfoNet secured funding Aboriginal Health Division within the WA Department of Health to expand the WA state section and produce the Overview of the health of Indigenous people in Western Australia 2013 publication.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding Aboriginal Health Division within the WA Department of Health to expand the WA state section and produce the Overview of the health of Indigenous people in Western Australia 2013 publication.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding for the expansion of the Substance use section and yarning place.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding from the National Heart Foundation to develop the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander overweight and obesity web resource.

The HealthInfoNet recognised the need to create a web resource for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and funding was obtained from the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health to develop a resource specifically tailored to the knowledge needs of this group.
https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/health-professionals/health-workers/

Social and Emotional Wellbeing section and yarning place funded.

The HealthInfoNet provided information to the Australian Medical Association (AMA) for their National men’s health report card.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding from the Western Australian Department of Health’s Environmental Health Directorate for an Indigenous Environmental Health Practitioners portal (IEHP) to provide IEHPs with access to the evidence base to assist them in their work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-infrastructure/iehp

HealthInfoNet Advisory Board Member, Professor Ian Ring, recommended the development of a Closing the Gap section to provide comprehensive key information on the history, goals, current initiatives and progress on Closing the Gap.
https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/learn/health-system/closing-the-gap/

The LungInfoNet was established with funding from Menzies School of Health Research to expand the Respiratory health resource.
https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/learn/health-topics/respiratory-health/

The Healthy Lifestyle Project (HeLP) – Production of the national Healthy Lifestyle Toolkits including a resources library box and delivery of this to each worker and the development of an online portal for the new Healthy Lifestyle Workforce (HLW). In addition, intensive training was provided in Canberra to all HLWs on how to use the resources in the library box, toolkit and how to use the portal.

The HealthInfoNet in partnership with national research team, the Indigenous Offender Heath Research Capacity Building Group (IOHR-CBG), was funded by NHMRC to develop and maintain an Indigenous offender health web page on its existing website and produce a narrative synthesis review.

The HealthInfoNet secured funding to establish a new SEWB workers portal. The portal aimed to empower and build the capacity of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing workforce and identify and address mental health issues and associated substance use issues.

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM) to develop Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sexual health resources. The result was

The HealthInfoNet was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to expand the Ears and Eyes web resources.

The Western Australian Workshop Program was funded by Healthway and provided an 18 month program in WA of taking the HealthInfoNet out to regional areas and conducting half day workshops with health practitioners, Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) staff and hospitals, on how to use the site and was tailored to each area’s specific health issues in that community.

The Australian Indigenous ClinicalInfoNet was funded by Department of Health to produce a chronic disease resource for General Practitioners, Practice Nurses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers which is linked to the patient management system (Best Practice and Medical Director) and had both practitioner and patient resources across all chronic conditions. In development of the resource, the HealthInfoNet worked closely with Hewlett Packard Australia, Pen Computer Systems to build a stand-alone web resource.

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with the Bettering Aboriginal Heart Health in Western Australia (BAHHWA) project to develop and manage the HeartInfoNet Yarning place, which was designed for information sharing and collaboration among the full range of health professionals and others involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cardiovascular health.
http://www.yarning.org.au/group/5

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with the National Indigenous Cancer Network (NICaN) to establish a web presence on the CancerInfoNet pages and the development of the NICaN yarning place. NICaN encourages and supports collaboration around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer research and delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer, including their carers and families.
https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/learn/health-topics/cancer/

The HealthInfoNet collaborated with Menzies School of Health Research to produce a ‘Hearing each other’ smartphone app, a ‘Make your own poster’ tool and an Ear health workers portal all available on the HealthInfoNet site. The project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

The HealthInfoNet was funded by the Department of Health Drug Strategy Branch to develop a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alcohol and other drugs (AOD) ‘Knowledge Centre web resource’. The contract is still current and includes portals for Community members, AOD workers, and many digital resources including an app, infographics, eBooks and webinars.

The Lowitja Institute contracted the HealthInfoNet to create the CQIconnect yarning place for health and community workers, researchers, policy makers and anyone working on Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care to share information and stay connected.
http://www.yarning.org.au/group/17

The Preventing Aboriginal Maternal Smoking in Western Australia (PAMSWA) project was a collaboration with the Aboriginal Maternity Services Support Unit (AMSSU) from the Women and Newborn Health Service, WA Health and Curtin University’s Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health (CERIPH) to develop and deliver a new online portal.

The HealthInfoNet was funded by the

to develop and maintain a Healing portal on the HealthInfoNet website. The Healing portal is an online hub for people working in healing, health, justice, education, employment, child protection, family violence, trauma and Stolen Generations.

The HealthInfoNet, in partnership with the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), developed a Women’s Health Yarning Place to facilitate closer connection for those working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health.
http://www.yarning.org.au/group/20

The Chronic disease workforce portal aims to provide up to date information and resources about chronic conditions that have practical application for health professional in daily work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients with chronic disease or disease risk. It covers information on: heart disease, diabetes, respiratory (lung) diseases, cancers and kidney disease. It also covers physical activity and nutrition as these factors influence many chronic conditions.
Note: This section is no longer available

The HealthInfoNet in collaboration with the Fred Hollows Foundation expanded the development of the Eye Health web resource to provide workshops, infographics and fact sheets.

The HealthInfoNet secured national funding from the Department of Health’s Indigenous Australians Health Programme to provide national information on Preventing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Maternal Smoking (PATSIMS). PATSIMS is designed to improve access to national information, resources, support and training for health professionals addressing tobacco smoking among pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, new mothers, and their families.