The Lowitja Institute is Australia's national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, named in honour of our Patron, Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE DSG. We are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation working for the health and wellbeing of Australia's First Peoples through high impact quality research, knowledge translation, and by supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers.

Established in January 2010, the Lowitja Institute operates on key principles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, a broader understanding of health that incorporates wellbeing, and the need for the work to have a clear and positive impact. It has 12 Member organisations .

Until 30 June 2019, Institute hosted the Lowitja Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC (Lowitja Institute CRC), funded by the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Programme. The history of the Lowitja Institute CRC dates back to 1997 when the first CRC for Aboriginal and Tropical Health was established.

The Institute and the CRC organisations have led a substantial reform agenda in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research by working with communities, researchers and policymakers, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people setting the agenda and driving the outcomes.

See our annual reports and our history . The Institute's office is in Melbourne. For more information, please contact us .

The video below 'Good decisions grow from great research' explains the work of the Lowitja Institute for the health and wellbeing of Australia's First Nations.