ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER-LED TRANSFORMATION All are volunteers who are passionate for the cause and their communities. They work in multiple ways to support each other, and advocate for ending RHD and for health systems reform. They also design education and awareness programs for their own communities and in their own languages. “These are people who know their communities better than anyone else does,” Maida said. “We don’t prescribe what it is that they must or need to do. It’s whatever they think is going to be of benefit to the community and people who are living with ARF and RHD in their communities as well.” Chief among their efforts is making sure that local culture, language and understandings shape local health messaging. That’s critical, for example, in places like Maningrida in the Northern Territory, one of the most linguistically diverse communities in the world, with 15 languages spoken and a high burden of RHD. In the past, a lack of culturally aware and safe messaging has led to misunderstandings of RHD, including people not realising that it is preventable. Just as important is being able to communicate lived experience and cultural knowledge to non-Indigenous health professionals, to address the power imbalances in fly-in flyout health delivery, Vicki says. This supports people “to empower their communities, so they can better navigate the health systems, make them equal partners in the health relationship”. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a big disruption for Champions4Change over the past two years, scuttling plans for many gatherings to strengthen and support its champions. But the group’s ambitions continue to grow, including sustainable funding and a national program that supports better and culturally appropriate housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This would immediately cut RHD rates and add years to people’s lives. Our champions are from the community. They have the cultural knowledge and the cultural protocols and lore. That means being able to provide strong health information in a culturally appropriate manner in a way that community understands.” Vicki Wade, RHD Australia Director PHOTO: Anne-Marie Lee (left), Tyrone Brownley (middle), Kynan Bevan (right) at the Champions for Change workshop TTransforming Power: Voices for Generational Change 21