Welcome to the Indigenous Health Ethics Network.

For too long Indigenous peoples throughout  Australia (and worldwide) have been researched about, without being consulted or involved in the research.  This Network is a step forward in trying to promote research that is ethical, culturally appropriate, and benefits the community.  It follows on from the project  "Promoting ethical research with Indigenous communities", developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health [1] (CRCAH), and a workshop for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved in ethics.

The aim is to support all people who are part of research involving Indigenous peoples, including those on ethics committees, ethics researchers, students and the wider community.  We hope to:

• encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get actively involved in research about their communties;
• encourage researchers to work in partnership with Indigenous communities;
• help Indigenous communities identify what they want out of the research;
• improve the process of ethical research;
• assist Australian Human Research Ethics Committees to determine if ethics applications for research projects involving Indigenous people are ethical and beneficial to those being researched; and
• influence the health research agenda.