In order to improve the burden of chronic diseases we needed information about its development.

Prior to Menzies’ research, the natural history of chronic diseases amongst Aboriginal people was not well understood. In 1987, just short of our third birthday, Menzies sought to establish an Australian Aboriginal birth cohort to be used as a resource for descriptive and analytical studies with particular attention on non-communicable diseases.

Learn more about Menzies life course studies:

• Aboriginal Birth Cohort (ABC) study - One of the longest and largest Indigenous cohorts, helping to explain the life course of chronic adult diseases in Indigenous Australians 
• Top End Cohort study- Examining the current and future health of adolescents within the Darwin area 
• The Remote Aboriginal Communities’ Children’s Environment Health Indicator Project
• The Healthy Community Assessment Tool for Small Rural Towns and Remote Communities 
• The Better Environmental Health, Housing and Child Health Study (BEHHCH)