Aims: To strengthen relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer care workforce, community partners and researchers and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Alliance research network, and to identify community-defined priorities and gaps for culturally safe, community-led cancer research collaboration.
Methods: A workshop was held in March 2026, bringing together 19 participants (90% identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; 31% from rural/regional Victoria). The program combined contextual presentations on national and state First Nations cancer policy frameworks, roundtable discussions on identity, data and genomics, case-study presentations on Indigenous-led research, and yarning circles addressing key research priorities and partnership gaps.
Results: Cultural safety emerged as the foundational principle underpinning all discussion themes, rather than a standalone consideration. Roundtable yarns identified priority areas for VCCC Alliance action, including consistent processes for safe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patient identification in health services, consistent consent-based data collection grounded in Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance principles and processes, dedicated First Nations Cancer Coordinator roles, and embedding Aboriginal Health Workers across services. Community-identified research priorities included culturally safe systems, realistic funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce, community-led and defined research agendas, grants aligned with community-defined priorities and bringing clinical trials to community. Structural gaps identified included the need to actively address racism, properly resource advisory and leadership structures, properly resource consumer-led research and leadership and build sustained networks between communities and institutions. The workshop provided a roadmap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led cancer program with the VCCC Alliance, which will be expanded on in this presentation.
Conclusions: Structured, community-led workshops using yarning methodology can effectively surface actionable, community-defined priorities for embedding cultural safety and Indigenous data sovereignty into cancer research partnerships, offering a practical model for research networks seeking to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led research engagement.