*3.4. Measuring Wellbeing*

"Accurate wellbeing measures tell us what works and what does not work to improve wellbeing, inform patient and clinical decision making, service delivery, policy, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. The absence of a robust culturally relevant wellbeing measure has significantly hindered progress in improving wellbeing for all Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Australians" [45]. This topic is of interest and importance both nationally and internationally [46–50]. Within Australia, Professor Garvey and her colleagues have developed and are testing a nationally relevant instrument to measure the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait adults. The measure includes 32 items across 10 dimensions including, for example: Balance and Control, Hope and Resilience, Culture and Country, Spirit and Identity, and Racism and Worries. The research team are developing a short form version of What Matters 2 Adults and have commenced work to develop a What Matters 2 youth wellbeing measure (12–17 years) and are piloting a project to test methods with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children <11 years [46].

#### *3.5. Use of Data for Management Purposes*

The ground-breaking new National Agreement on Closing the Gap between the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations and all Australian governments [23] provides for "Shared access to location specific data and information [that] will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to support the achievement of the Priority Reforms" through partnership, "making evidencebased decisions on the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs for their communities in order to develop local solutions for local issues and "measuring the transformation of governmen<sup>t</sup> organisations operating in their region to be more responsive and accountable for Closing the Gap". There is also an acceptance of the desirability of local level data to enable local decision-making, and the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to be "supported by governments to build capability and expertise in collecting, using and interpreting data in a meaningful way".

If translated into action, these agreements would be very important reforms. However, they will not necessarily resolve the fundamental issue, of not just guaranteeing access to data, but using that data at all levels of government, by service providers to improve performance. The failure to fully utilize the data that does exist is a central element in the relative lack of progress in recent years. This is because access to and provision of data is not an end in itself, but an integral element in the policy and planning cycle, where data is used to monitor and improve performance, refine policy, and progressively improve outcomes as set out in the Planning Cycle diagram [51] below (Figure 3).

**Figure 3.** Planning Cycle.

Information should play a vital role in several of the Actions in the Planning Cycle diagram—in Step 3, Situational Analysis; in Step 4, Review of available resources; and most importantly in Monitoring and Evaluation in Step 11, but at present is not being utilised to anything like its full potential [52–57]. Note also that the cycle is just that, a continuous cycle, not a static or periodic process. An essential requirement is to have formal reviews of performance at monthly intervals for service providers, and six monthly and annual reviews involving communities, funders, service providers, and policy makers.

#### *3.6. Indigenous Data Governance*

There are still many issues that need to be resolved regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data in official statistics. Despite the investments in data capabilities in Australia, efforts are still needed to meet the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by facilitating Indigenous Data Sovereignty through Indigenous Data Governance processes. One recommendation is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are supported in the development of mechanisms to govern their data. This should be in alignment with current developments in ID-SOV, whereby Indigenous peoples have the right to exercise authority and govern the affairs of the use of Indigenous data that reflects Indigenous peoples interests and aspirations [58]. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, this is enacting self-determination in the collection and use of data and acts to redress the existing unequal power distributions currently seen in Australian society. It is important to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander epidemiologists and demographers lead the way in discussions on data collection, quality, and reporting regarding official statistics. This is to enable existing data infrastructures and data systems to work optimally for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and to ensure there are established mechanisms of expert voice as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities move closer towards data control and ownership within Australia.
