Aboriginal Families Study

Policy and Evidence Briefs

You can read the brief by clicking on the title (file opens in new window)

This policy brief summarises preliminary findings from the Aboriginal Families Study. It suggests that the shift to providing services for Aboriginal families via the Aboriginal Family Birthing Program in South Australia has improved engagement with antenatal care. This is likely to translate into better outcomes for Aboriginal women and children. 

Policy Brief #1
Antenatal Care

This policy brief summarises preliminary findings from the Aboriginal Families Study. It highlights the impact of stressful life events and social health issues on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal families in pregnancy, and discusses implications for policy and services.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 3-5 times more likely to die during childbirth compared to other Australian women, and 2-3 times more likely to have a stillborn baby, neonatal death, preterm birth and/or low birthweight infant. These inequalities in health outcomes are at least in part attributable to late and/or inadequate access to antenatal care.

This policy brief summarises findings from the Aboriginal Families Study. It highlights the potential for stressful events and social health issues to affect the health of newborn babies, and discusses implications for health policy and health services. 

This policy brief summarises findings from the Aboriginal Families Study: a population based study of 344 women giving birth to an Aboriginal baby in South Australia. It shows that most women accessed primary care from GPs, Child and Family Health Services and/or Aboriginal Health Workers after their baby was born. However, a minority of women did not. This has concerning implications for the health of mothers and babies.

This policy brief summarises preliminary findings from the first 170 women taking part in the second wave of follow up (when the study children were 5-8 years old). It highlights the impact of stressful events and social health issues on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal families, and discusses implications for policy and services. 

This policy brief summarises preliminary findings from the first 170 women taking part in the second wave of follow up (when the study children were 5-8 years old). It highlights the impact of family and community violence on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal families, and discusses implications for policy and services. 

Infographic summarising some important study insights to date.

This community report summarises some of the findings from the study so far and talks about what we are doing now.