From 1989 to 1993, as a young twenty-something, I managed Pintupi Homelands Health Service, located 520 kilometres west of Alice Springs. Among other tasks, I was responsible for employing nursing staff through agencies that specialised in recruitment and orientation programs for the outback.

This week, I had the opportunity to work with a group of students when teaching into the First 1000 Days Australia short course and Master of Public Health subject at the University of Melbourne.

As current Program Chair and former CEO of the Lowitja Institute, I took great pleasure in celebrating the recent 20-year anniversary of both the Institute and its associated Cooperative Research Centres.

This week, we have our staffers Elle and Endang in Indonesia working with local collaborators reviewing programs in the lead up to our Australian Indonesian Centre-funded roundtable discussion at the First 1000 Days Australia’s October Summit.

Each year, the 4th of August recognises the strengths and culture of our children with National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, a day that celebrates the many benefits children experience when they are raised with strong connections to family and culture.