Exploring new opportunities: using local research to inform undergraduate Indigenous health training

[Extract] Australia has consistently witnessed limited to no improvement in the health indicators of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’. Indigenous life expectancy for 1996–2001 was 59 years for males and 65 years for females. This figure is approximately 17 years below the 77 years and 82 years life expectancy for all Australian males and females respectively, for the 1998–2000 period (1). There have been some improvements in life expectancy in the Northern Territory, however there is no indication that health has improved overall for the total Indigenous population (2). Within the North Queensland region, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face some of the poorest health outcomes in Australia (3)