About us

The Centre for Global Health and Equity undertakes research, nurtures partnerships and manages programs to improve health and equity for individuals and communities and to influence health systems and policy. Our multidisciplinary team is passionate about making a difference, and we invent, test and implement tools and processes that are used throughout the world. At the heart of what we do is innovation, knowledge creation and collaboration to meet specific health needs and to empower individuals and communities on their journeys to better health.

We are actively engaged in research in over 30 countries and are determining what works, under what circumstances, and why. This work is undertaken in many different contexts, including both low-income and high-income countries.

Health literacy is one of our focal points. Health literacy means effective engagement with health information and with health services. Health literacy has a significant impact on the health of individuals and communities, and research shows that improving health literacy can lead to positive outcomes. For example, improving health literacy gives people a better chance to manage noncommunicable diseases by adopting healthier lifestyles.

Our health literacy research assesses how and why people make specific health decisions, including whether to use services or not. It shows us what they know, think and believe about their health. This understanding can then be used to inform and guide health policies, programs and interventions.

We use health literacy thinking to provide deep insight into the mechanisms behind health inequality and effective individual and community interventions. We use grounded, place-based research methodologies, alongside traditional public health techniques such as epidemiology and community forums, to generate impacts at the individual person level through the development of programs that are implementable, effective and scalable.

Our goal is to ensure that health literacy is promoted and supported at community, state and national levels, both in Australia and globally. We work with national and international collaborators to design effective programs and interventions to meet this goal.