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Indigenous Australians experience profound levels of disadvantage in health, living standards, life expectancy, education and employment, particularly in comparison with non-Indigenous Australians. Very little information is available about the healthy development of Australian Indigenous children; the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) is designed to fill this knowledge gap.This dataset provides an opportunity to follow the development of up to 1759 Indigenous children. LSIC conducts annual face-to-face interviews with children (aged 0.5-2 and 3.5-5 years at baseline in 2008) and their caregivers. This represents between 5% and 10% of the total population of Indigenous children in these age groups, including families of varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Study topics include: the physical, social and emotional well-being of children and their caregivers; language; culture; parenting; and early childhood education.LSIC is a shared resource, formed in partnership with communities; its data are readily accessible through the Australian Government Department of Social Services (see http://dss.gov.au/lsic for data and access arrangements). As one of very few longitudinal studies of Indigenous children, and the only national one, LSIC will enable an understanding of Indigenous children from a wide range of environments and cultures. Findings from LSIC form part of a growing infrastructure from which to understand Indigenous child health.

Indigenous Australians experience profound levels of disadvantage in health, living standards, life expectancy, education and employment, particularly in comparison with non-Indigenous Australians. Very little information is available about the healthy development of Australian Indigenous children; the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) is designed to fill this knowledge gap.This dataset provides an opportunity to follow the development of up to 1759 Indigenous children. LSIC conducts annual face-to-face interviews with children (aged 0.5-2 and 3.5-5 years at baseline in 2008) and their caregivers. This represents between 5% and 10% of the total population of Indigenous children in these age groups, including families of varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Study topics include: the physical, social and emotional well-being of children and their caregivers; language; culture; parenting; and early childhood education.LSIC is a shared resource, formed in partnership with communities; its data are readily accessible through the Australian Government Department of Social Services (see http://dss.gov.au/lsic for data and access arrangements). As one of very few longitudinal studies of Indigenous children, and the only national one, LSIC will enable an understanding of Indigenous children from a wide range of environments and cultures. Findings from LSIC form part of a growing infrastructure from which to understand Indigenous child health.

Background: Tobacco smoking is the leading contributor to the burden of disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Reducing tobacco use in this population is a public health priority. Precise monitoring of smoking prevalence trends is central to implementation and evaluation of effective tobacco control. The way in which trends are reported influences understanding of the extent of progress, with potential implications for policy. Our objective was to quantify absolute changes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult (?18 years old) daily tobacco smoking prevalence from 2004 to 2015, including comparisons with the total Australian population, and by age, sex and remoteness. Methods: We analysed multiple nationally representative surveys of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and total Australian, population conducted from 2004 to 2015. Aligned with strength-based approaches, we applied a progress frame, focusing on absolute differences in smoking prevalence within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Results: The prevalence of current daily smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults nationally was 50.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 47.9, 52.2) in 2004-05 and 41.4% (95% CI 39.1, 43.6) in 2014-15, representing an absolute prevalence decrease of 8.6 percentage points (95% CI 5.5, 11.8) over the past decade. This is comparable with the 6.8 percentage point (95% CI 5.6, 7.9) decrease in smoking prevalence in the total Australian population over the same period, from 21.3% in 2004-05 (95% CI 20.5, 22.0) to 14.5% in 2014-15 (95% CI 13.6, 15.4). Particular success in reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander daily smoking was observed among younger age groups, with a decrease of 13.2 percentage points for 18-24-year-olds (95% CI 5.9, 20.4), 9.0 percentage points for 25-34-year-olds (95% CI 2.7, 15.3) and 8.7 percentage points for 35-44-year-olds (95% CI 2.6, 14.8). Smoking prevalence in those living in urban/regional areas decreased by 10.2 percentage points (95% CI 6.2, 14.1). Conclusions: Substantial progress has been made in reducing smoking, with an estimated 35 000 fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults smoking every day in 2014-15 compared with if daily smoking remained at 2004-05 prevalence. This will lead to thousands of lives saved. The observed success in the younger age groups is encouraging. Continued resourcing and comprehensive tobacco control efforts are required to ensure positive trends continue. ; This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (EB, grant number 1042717; RL, 1088366). AW is supported through a scholarship from the Australian Government Department of Health

Background Evidence on the effectiveness of postal recruitment methods for Indigenous peoples is lacking. Mayi Kuwayu, the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, uses multi-staged sampling. We aimed to test postal surveys as a primary recruitment method, analysing preliminary response rate data to inform the Study's ongoing sampling approach. Methods Twenty thousand adults aged ≥16 years were sampled from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enrolled in the Medicare Australia Enrolment Database. We calculated response rates at 4 and 15 weeks, overall and by age group, gender, state/territory and remoteness. Results The overall response rate was 2.3% (n = 456/20000). Highest response rates were observed among males and females ≥50 years from major cities (6.0, 95%CI 4.4–7.9 and 5.5%, 4.1–7.2, respectively) and regional areas (6.0%, 4.6–7.6 and 6.2%, 4.9–7.7, respectively). Younger age groups and remote areas had lower response rates; all remote age groups < 50 years had a response rate ≤ 0.6%. While most participants responded on the paper surveys, online responses were more common among younger age groups and, respondents with higher education levels and whose first language was not English. Conclusion Using a postal survey, we observed response rates of ≥5.5% among older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in major cities and regional areas; response rates were lower in other groups. A two-stage postal distribution approach provided an opportunity to adapt sampling approaches to different demographic groups. Based on initial response rates, the sampling strategy was revised to send postal surveys to groups with higher response rates groups and focus field recruitment strategies on low response groups.on low response groups. ; The Mayi Kuwayu Study development and preliminary postal distribution was supported by the Lowitja Institute (ref: 1344). AW is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and an ANU Dean's Award Scholarship. KT is supported by the Lowitja Institute (ref: 1344)

Background: Armed conflict has broad-ranging impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. Mental health needs greatly exceed service provision in conflict settings, particularly for these age groups. The provision and targeting

Background: Armed conflict has broad-ranging impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. Mental health needs greatly exceed service provision in conflict settings, particularly for these age groups. The provision and targeting