Artificial intelligence for healthcare in Australian Indigenous communities: Scoping project to explore relevance
Partners: Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc. (VACCHO), The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane, the Centre of Excellence for Aboriginal Digital in Health (CEADH), the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
Pictured: CSIRO Investigators Ray Mahoney and Andrew Goodman delivering a workshop on the relevance of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising healthcare and expanding into previously human-exclusive areas, bringing breakthroughs and challenges. Over the past decade, considerable efforts have been made to reconcile ethical considerations with the introduction of AI in healthcare internationally.
In Australia current AI principles are not tailored for healthcare and are overly abstract, lacking consideration of cultural diversity. Data quality and fairness are pivotal for the success of any AI-based solution, the mismanagement of data biases poses a potential source of discrimination and injustice. There is a gap in the inclusion and priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s voices in the fast‑developing world of AI. Yet, due to the national policy and protocol infancy of this resource in healthcare applications, we simply do not know the relevance and priority AI plays in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare.
We employed a consultation methodology approach through conducting independent workshops with key stakeholders to identify priorities and unanswered questions relevant to AI applications in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare. By building an evidence base, the project clarifies the relevance of AI to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare and identifies concerns associated with its use and deployment in healthcare.
The official report (published 09/09/2025) builds an evidence base of the applicability, concerns, and opportunities of AI as it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Moreover, it establishes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations as self-determined leaders in this space and offers discussion of what a culturally self-determined AI Health ecosystem can look like.
The full report is now available for download below.
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