The Ngangk Yira Research Centre was created to address the urgent and complex problems affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with a particular focus on maternal, newborn and youth needs.   

Ngangk Yira was named by Whadjuk Balladong Noongar elder Aunty Marie Taylor, with the name paying homage to the specific link the Centre was to have with women. 

In Noongar language Ngangk means ‘Mother’ and can also mean ‘The Sun’. Yira means ‘up there’. Ngangk Yira therefore could be interpreted as ‘the Sun is rising’ or ‘Our Mother the Sun is rising.’  

Murdoch University has been committed to social justice and inclusion since inception. The creation of Ngangk Yira Research Centre was a progression of this ethos, a place of research to create real change. 

Image: The Ngangk Yira team

In June 2022 the Centre became the Ngangk Yira Institute for Change and opened three new research centres.  

Professor Rhonda Marriott AM had led Ngangk Yira Research Centre from the start, and became Pro Vice Chancellor of Ngangk Yira Institute for Change when it opened. 

I’ve been passionate about this work for so long. As a nurse, as a midwife, but as an Aboriginal woman, I want to see change.
Professor Rhonda Marriott AM, Pro Vice Chancellor Ngangk Yira Institute

Two of the new centres were located on Murdoch’s Perth campus. 

The Yorga, Maaman and Koolanga Research Centre was created to strengthen and support empowered, healthy and resilient children, parents, families and communities. The Coolamon Research Centre was created to build an understanding of the effects of climate change, and the social, cultural and environmental factors impacting Aboriginal families and communities.  

The third centre, the Yawardani Jan-ga Centre was opened in the remote Kimberley region of WA. This Centre provides support for Aboriginal young people aged six to 26 years, through an innovative program using horses to support their social and emotional wellbeing, with equine assisted learning.   

Ngangk Yira Institute for Change as a whole is dedicated to conducting culturally safe, translational research across three core pillars of research. These are maternal and child health, family empowerment and resilience; and healthy families and communities.  

The Institute takes a connected approach from pregnancy through to childhood and across life, drawing on the knowledge and wisdom of Elders Council members and researchers. 

We use co-design to premise Aboriginal perspectives on complex issues to ‘close the gap’ for health outcomes and issues of equity and access.
Professor Rhonda Marriott AM, Pro Vice Chancellor Ngangk Yira Institute

The Institute offices on Murdoch’s Perth campus have recently undergone refurbishment, with new spaces and meeting rooms offering a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all visitors, collaborators and staff.  

Looking to the future there are exciting plans for Ngangk Yira Institute for Change’s presence to evolve even more at Murdoch, as part of a major campus development plan. The change will focus on providing linkages across campus with the aim of nurturing community, education and research.