Background & Context
This programme represents a significant step in culturally responsive nutrition research in Australia. Developed in partnership with Indigenous community organisations, the assessment framework prioritised community ownership, cultural safety, and the integration of traditional foods into the dietary assessment process.
Traditional nutrition assessment tools were inadequate for capturing the full dietary picture of Indigenous Australian communities, which rely heavily on traditional foods not found in standard food composition databases. The Intake24 platform was extensively adapted to include traditional bush foods and to support both remote fieldwork and community-facilitated data collection.
The programme operates under Indigenous data sovereignty principles, with communities retaining ownership of their own dietary data and decision-making authority over how findings are used.