Shawana Andrews Lowitja Institute International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2016

Shawana Andrews

Dr Shawana Andrews is a Trawlwoolway Palawa woman. She is Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne. Shawana has over 20 years’ experience working with Aboriginal communities in Victoria. Beginning as an Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Shawana co-designed the Koori Mental Health Program and the Wadja Aboriginal Family Place acute care case management program, including a comprehensive Aboriginal child outpatient clinic. Shawana has since held policy, project management and teaching roles across the health and higher education sectors. At the Melbourne Poche Centre she leads the Centre’s signature programs that focus on Aboriginal doctoral advancement and health leadership. National collaborations and international partnerships are central this work. Shawana’s research areas include: Aboriginal graduate research candidate experiences; social capital, place and purpose of Aboriginal health leadership; Aboriginal mothering practices and family violence; Aboriginal feminisms and gendered knowledges, and cultural practice-based methodologies. Shawana is a CI on the Replanting the Birthing Trees to Support First Nations Parents and Babies MRFF Project.