IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

A collaborative study between the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the University of Melbourne has demonstrated that routinely collected primary healthcare data could be used to better understand the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children over time. Published in the International Journal of Population Data Science, the study explored the potential use of electronic medical records (EMRs) in longitudinal research tracking the health of young Aboriginal children in the region.

The analysis was prompted by the need for high-quality, disaggregated longitudinal data to better understand the specific health needs and aspirations of local Aboriginal communities. Such data is essential to develop and evaluate place-based solutions that promote health, wellbeing, and self-determination. The study analysed de-identified EMRs of more than 300 young Aboriginal children, looking closely at their first five years of life to explore whether these routine records could be used to track health outcomes over time.

The researchers found that routine health checks, immunisations, and growth monitoring were well recorded over time in the EMRs, providing valuable insights. However, details on chronic conditions and factors relating to the social determinants of health were recorded less consistently, pointing to limitations in the completeness of the analysed dataset. These findings suggest that while Aboriginal community-controlled health services are generating important health data, further improvements in data recording and standardisation are needed to fully unlock the potential of EMRs for research and service planning.

The study also underscored the importance of partnerships between researchers and community-controlled health services. The research team worked closely with the local community-controlled health service to ensure that the analysis and write up of the findings reflected local priorities and was carried out in a respectful and culturally responsive way. 

This work highlights the promise of routinely collected EMRs in supporting child health monitoring—if accompanied by sustained efforts to improve data quality, infrastructure, and culturally safe research practices. “This study shows that Aboriginal community-controlled health services are already producing meaningful, high-quality data,” said Dr Catherine Lloyd-Johnsen, the study’s lead author. “Leveraging these data" she added, "could provide us with an opportunity to better understand local children’s health and development over time.”

As Australia continues its efforts to improve health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this study offers a valuable example of how community-driven, data-informed research can contribute to more effective and responsive health services.

 

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Dr. Catherine Lloyd-Johnsen, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Victoria, Australia

Lloyd-Johnsen, C., Boffa, J., Baghbanian, V., Walpole, R., Guo, S., Eades, S., D'Aprano, A. and Goldfeld, S. (2025) “Can routinely collected primary healthcare data be used to assess Aboriginal children’s health and wellbeing longitudinally? A retrospective analysis of electronic medical records from an Aboriginal community-controlled health service in Central Australia”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 10(1). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i1.2704.