The NHMRC Road Map ‘benchmark’ principles: a formal evaluation process is needed to improve their application

Abstract

[Extract] The appropriate conduct of health research in Indigenous communities is an ongoing topic of discussion, underpinned by ethical, epistemological and methodological issues. Data collected, analysed and disseminated from research in Indigenous communities has typically met the needs of the researcher first, with Indigenous communities often playing a passive role in the research process. Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) 'Road Maps I and II: Strategic Framework for Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health through Research' provide researcher guidelines to ensure the needs and concerns of Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) communities are met. The guidelines' six principles relate to ethical research with the overall objective of making research relevant to the peoples and communities involved (see Table 1).