News - Menzies

MEDIA RELEASE | Big-RIVERS project to support regional, integrated renal care

Date

October 15, 2025 - 09:00am

Recent funding from the MRFF will see the Big-RIVERS (Regional Integrated Vision for Effective Renal Support) project rolled out over the next four years.
Territory Kidney Care: integrated chronic disease support in the NT

Date

December 13, 2023 - 12:30pm

Territory Kidney Care (TKC) was conceived in response to the collective demand of health services and communities for better integration of services.
Kidney health mentors making a difference to mental wellbeing

Date

December 15, 2022 - 13:30pm

In the Top End of the Northern Territory, a group of First Nations kidney health mentors are working to improve the mental health of people on their renal journey.
Elcho Island elders celebrate new dialysis nurse and treatment, bringing them home to families

Date

May 28, 2022 - 14:30pm

The newly staffed dialysis unit on Elcho Island is making a difference, enabling Yolngu elders with kidney disease to reconnect with their community and return home after years of receiving treatment in urban centers.
ABC | Concerns about drinking water quality in 'almost all' remote NT communities. What can be done about it?

Date

April 11, 2022 - 07:30am

Laramba resident Stanley Fletcher is worried that long-term exposure to the community's drinking water is making people sick.
Territory Q | NT Digital Excellence Awards

Date

January 06, 2021 - 07:00am

Community Benefit Award in partnership with DXC Technology - Menzies Territory Kidney Care
ABC News | No solution before NT election for Indigenous dialysis patients desperate to get home

Date

August 09, 2020 - 08:45am

Researcher Gillian Gorham was inspired to study the costs of remote dialysis after witnessing the change in a Groote Eylandt community when a respected elder returned home.
Enhancing clinical care for kidney disease

Date

July 21, 2020 - 15:53pm

In the NT, escalating rates of severe or end-stage kidney disease are devastating Aboriginal communities. Almost 1000 Aboriginal Territorians now require life-preserving dialysis three times per week.
Five medical research projects recognised in the Northern Territory

Date

May 21, 2020 - 10:36am

Five researchers based at Menzies have received recognition in the form of Investigator Grants from the NHMRC and the MRFF.
$400 million funding boost for health and medical research

Date

May 20, 2020 - 16:04pm

Including Menzies School of Health Research work towards the elimination of chronic hepatitis B in the Northern Territory.
Confronting racism to improve healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with kidney disease

Date

May 01, 2020 - 09:00am

Action is urgently needed to confront the immense health disparities in kidney disease outcomes suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’
Expert opinion - Kidney disease and COVID-19

Date

April 09, 2020 - 14:00pm

For many years, experts at Menzies School of Health Research have contributed to the development and revision of national guidelines for health service delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic poses multiple challenges to how we deliver critical health services...
A new action plan to tackle kidney disease

Date

March 13, 2020 - 08:43am

The Government has launched the National Strategic Action Plan for Kidney Disease and awarded $3.5 million in funding to organisations to take immediate action.
Territorian recognised for research excellence

Date

March 11, 2020 - 17:30pm

Menzies School of Health Research Associate Prof Hughes received the 2019 NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Award for the top-ranked application in the 2019 funding round at NHMRC’s annual awards in Canberra.
eGFR Study news - January 2020

Date

January 15, 2020 - 15:30pm

In this edition of eGFR Study News, we summarise the key 2019 activities of the study team.
eGFR study news - January 2020

Date

January 15, 2020 - 15:26pm
“Polycystic kidney disease, the most common genetic kidney disorder you've probably never heard of”

Date

September 13, 2019 - 13:30pm

Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic kidney disorder, and the fourth most common cause of kidney failure in Australian adults. It affects about one in 1,000 Australians.
$440 million funding boost for vital health and medical research for all stages of life

Date

August 29, 2019 - 09:00am

$6 million in research funding for three Indigenous health grants in the Northern Territory. This includes $2.5 million for an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence at the Menzies School of Health Research to prevent and manage bronchiectasis, a lung disease which results in recurrent chest infections and is particularly common in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Senator reveals personal story of kidney disease

Date

August 08, 2019 - 14:00pm

Nephrologist at the Menzies School of Health Research, Paul Lawton, said his research team had been investigating key causes that dramatically impact upon remote Aboriginal communities.
Curious Kids: why is urine yellow?

Date

August 07, 2019 - 11:08am

Dr Jaqui Hughes answers The Conversation's Curious Kids question explaining the functions of the kidney.
Sunday Territorian | Gift of life

Date

August 04, 2019 - 02:00am

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy discusses her kidney diseaese and treatment by Dr Paul Lawton
The Health Advocate Episode 11 - Renal Patients in Remote Communities

Date

June 12, 2019 - 09:00am

AHHA's Director of the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research, Rebecca Haddock, sits down with Stephanie Pushka.
This Dialysis Patient From A Remote Community Has Spent Years In A Short-Stay Hostel

Date

May 24, 2019 - 11:00am

This delay in receiving the DSP is not unusual, according to Stefanie Puszka, a researcher with the Menzies School of Health Research and the ANU.
This Kidney Patient Thought Her Life Was At Risk.

Date

May 24, 2019 - 05:00am

Stefanie Puszka, a researcher with the Menzies School of Health Research talks to BuzzFeed News.
SMH | Hope and healing

Date

April 28, 2019 - 02:00am

A new approach to treatment is helping Indigenous Australians fight kidney disease
Fixing health—why housing and income policy must be part of the mix

Date

April 23, 2019 - 15:16pm

In an AHHA issues brief released today, Stefanie Puszka outlines why housing and income policy changes needed to improve health outcomes.
COAG Health Council | Communiqué 8 March 2019

Date

March 08, 2019 - 13:45pm

The Federal, state and territory Health Ministers met in Adelaide at the COAG Health Council to discuss a range of national health issues.
The Australian | Shortfall in transplants

Date

November 03, 2018 - 00:15am

A recent study in The Medical Journal of Australia found indigenous people on dialysis were “substantially less likely” than other Australians to be placed on the waiting list for a kidney.
The Wire | Kidney bias: Indigenous Australians missing out on transplants

Date

September 20, 2018 - 09:22am

Menzies has released a study highlighting the life-saving surgery many are missing out on and co-author Dr Paul Lawton spoke about some of the key findings.
National Indigenous Times | Indigenous patients in need of new kidneys aren’t getting a fair go

Date

September 19, 2018 - 15:57pm

Indigenous patients with kidney disease are missing out on transplants because they are not being put on waiting lists for the potentially life-saving surgery, new research has found.
Health system struggling with organ donation success

Date

September 17, 2018 - 00:00am

Researchers from the University of Adelaide, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Menzies School of Health Research and Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry found the disparity had barely changed over time.
National review to investigate low Indigenous kidney transplant rates

Date

June 24, 2018 - 14:30pm

One of the members of the panel will be Dr Jaqui Hughes, Australia’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nephrologist, based at the Royal Darwin Hospital and at the Menzies School of Health Research, who said the news of the inquiry was “really welcome”.
Feds unveil review of kidney process | NT News

Date

June 22, 2018 - 01:15am

The Federal Government is poised to announce an inquiry into indigenous access to kidney transplants.
'Our kids need proper water': Families plead for action over uranium in drinking water

Date

June 19, 2018 - 15:30pm

Respected Northern Territory kidney specialist Alan Cass, from the Menzies School of Health Research, said those claims needed "careful research".
Budget 2018: Aboriginal patients convinced the Government to help them get home

Date

May 10, 2018 - 08:46am

On her island home, far away from talk of tax cuts and budget wins and losses, Jacqueline Amagula got the news she has been waiting and fighting for.
Win for dialysis patients in Northern Territory

Date

April 29, 2018 - 00:15am

THE Territory’s kidney disease sufferers will be the major beneficiaries of a new Medicare item to be announced by the Turnbull Government today.
NT News | Meetings for Health School

Date

April 24, 2018 - 02:00am

Menzies School of Health Research is hosting the first consultation to establish patient and community led national guidelines to be added to the overall management plans for people affected by kidney health issues.
Creating better guidelines for kidney health management

Date

April 23, 2018 - 09:00am

Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) is hosting the first consultation to establish patient and community led national guidelines to be added to the overall management plans for people affected by kidney health issues.
Roundtable Towards Roadmap For Renal Health - Media Release

Date

February 23, 2018 - 13:00pm

A renal roundtable convened by Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt AM in Darwin began charting the roadmap this week.
ABC | Opinion: Not all doctors agree my patient deserved his kidney transplant.

Date

January 11, 2018 - 12:32pm

Just before Christmas 2016, a 68-year-old man received a kidney transplant, one of 1,091 Australians that year.
Indigenous Australians far less likely to get a kidney transplant

Date

December 13, 2017 - 19:30pm

One in four Indigenous Australians will develop kidney disease, but new figures show that they are far less likely to be able to access a kidney transplant.
Fair access demanded for patients

Date

December 13, 2017 - 07:30am

KOORI MAIL | Remote Aboriginal Australians with kidney disease have demanded equitable access to life-saving treatment closer to home to prevent the removal of people from their traditional homelands.
Listen to Indigenous patient experts on how to transform renal care

Date

December 08, 2017 - 13:00pm

Their concerns and solutions are documented in a new report by the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin: Indigenous Patient Voices: gathering perspectives, finding solutions for chronic and end stage kidney disease.
Racist’ heath system failing NT Indigenous kidney patients

Date

December 08, 2017 - 01:00am

Menzies School of Health Research senior fellow and Dr G Yunupingu’s doctor Paul Lawton said while a non-indigenous kidney patient living in Darwin was as or more likely to receive a transplant as someone living in Sydney or Melbourne, that was not the case for Aboriginal people.
Indigenous patients left feeling ’isolated’

Date

November 17, 2017 - 06:00am

AN INDIGENOUS dialysis patient being away from home and families is no good. That’s one of the messages from indigenous kidney patients calling for equitable care in a new report from Menzies School of Health Research.
Remote kidney patients face homelessness

Date

November 15, 2017 - 14:00pm

Patients and their support networks have called for equal health care closer to their homes in a new report released by the Menzies School of Health Research in the Northern Territory.
Indigenous Australians travelling 1000 kilometres for kidney dialysis: report

Date

November 13, 2017 - 03:30am

In a new Menzies School of Health Research report, patients and carers from across northern and central Australia called on state, territory and federal government health ministers to overhaul the system to provide more holistic care.
Indigenous kidney patients call for equitable care in new report

Date

November 13, 2017 - 00:15am

Indigenous people with kidney disease living in remote and rural Australia as well as their support networks have made a resounding call for equitable health care closer to home in a report released today by Menzies School of Health Research.
Lucky Luke - The Darwin poet whose muse is a dialysis machine

Date

October 20, 2017 - 10:00am

In the Northern Territory in the 1990s, an Indigenous person was estimated to be 15 to 30 times more likely to have kidney failure than a non-Indigenous person. It was this disparity that compelled Paul Lawton, a kidney specialist, to move to Darwin from Melbourne.
Preterm babies at risk of developing kidney disease

Date

September 26, 2017 - 05:00am

How healthy we are in adulthood is, in many ways, determined while we are still in the womb. Babies born prematurely could be at greater risk of developing kidney disease later in life according to a landmark Monash University study investigating the impacts of preterm birth on kidney development.
Dr Jaqui Hughes interview, National TalkBlack

Date

September 22, 2017 - 15:00pm

Kidney specialist, Dr Jaqui Hughes talks to National TalkBlack
Kimberley patients forced to travel thousands of kilometres for essential dialysis training

Date

September 18, 2017 - 14:00pm

A kidney health forum held in Darwin last week tabled the concerns of remote dialysis patients from Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
ABC Online | Indigenous dialysis patients pushing for grassroots community health services

Date

September 06, 2017 - 19:00pm

Aboriginal dialysis patients say too many people are dying a lonely death away from their families, because they cannot be treated at home. In remote parts of Australia, patients whose kidneys are failing often have to leave their home communities to seek dialysis treatments in larger cities and towns.
CAAMA | Great potential to learn from Aboriginal people

Date

September 06, 2017 - 11:30am

The winner of a prestigious Kidney Health Australia Clinical Science Award says kidney specialists need to better understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander views on kidney transplant and how they wish to deal with kidney disease in communities.
NT News - Kidney research wins prize

Date

September 06, 2017 - 09:40am

NT NEWS reports Professor Alan Cass, wins the prestigious Kidney Health Australia Clinical Science Award.
Professor Alan Cass, wins clinical science award

Date

September 06, 2017 - 09:22am

Kidney specialist and Director of Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies), Professor Alan Cass, was presented with the prestigious Kidney Health Australia Clinical Science Award tonight at the 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN ASM) conference dinner.
Indigenous voices to be heard

Date

September 05, 2017 - 10:00am

Indigenous people with end-stage kidney disease from across northern and central Australia will be sharing their stories at an upcoming kidney conference in the hope of effecting change.
Organ Transplantation in Australia: Inequities in Access

Date

August 31, 2017 - 09:00am

Transplantation Journal | Organ Transplantation in Australia: Inequities in Access and Outcome for Indigenous Australians.
ABC Radio National - 'tsunami' of kidney disease

Date

August 08, 2017 - 11:14am

At the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory, RN Drive's Patricia Karvelas sat down with two experts in the field. Melanie Rarrtjiwuy Herdman Representing the CEO of Miwatj Health Dr Paul Lawton Kidney specialist from the Menzies School of Health Research who treated Dr G. Yunupingu
Australian Financial Review - Dr Paul Lawton at Garma

Date

August 07, 2017 - 06:00am

The loss of Dr G Yunupingu to kidney disease has shone a light on the "largely preventable" renal health nightmare afflicting remote communities, his doctor says.
Building care relationships in Alice Springs

Date

July 31, 2017 - 14:22pm

Story-sharing builds care relationships in Alice Springs Kidney disease affects many Indigenous families in Central Australia. People are forced to leave their home communities to access life-maintaining dialysis treatment in major towns like Alice...
ABC Life Matters - the gap in Indigenous life expectancy

Date

July 28, 2017 - 09:00am

The death this week of the wonderful singer Dr G Yunipingu at the age of just 46 from long-term illness, brings home once again the disparity in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Dr G Yunupingu chose to leave dialysis knowing he would die, doctor says

Date

July 27, 2017 - 19:00pm

Late Arnhem Land musician Dr G Yunupingu chose to end his dialysis treatment knowing the dire consequences that would follow, his doctor has told the ABC.
Medicare Review Taskforce’s recommendation for ‘on country’ dialysis

Date

June 07, 2017 - 09:00am

Menzies Director Professor Alan Cass, is also the Chair of the Renal Clinical Committee which is recommending a dedicated MBS item number to support ‘on country’ dialysis.
NHMRC fellow shapshot: Dr Paul Lawton

Date

November 14, 2016 - 10:30am

Menzies research fellow, Dr Paul Lawton was recently awarded an Early Career Fellowship as part of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) yearly multi-million dollar funding round. Paul’s fellowship provides support for his...
Top End health service delaying need for dialysis treatment amid soaring demand

Date

November 12, 2016 - 11:00am

A kidney health program at a Top End health service is making inroads in the battle against dramatically rising numbers of patients with dialysis-dependency and renal failure.
Powerful predictor for the progression of kidney disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations

Date

April 14, 2016 - 08:00am

Study reveals powerful predictor for the progression of kidney disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations
Kids get kidney message

Date

March 15, 2016 - 15:15pm

EARLY education is the best way to bring down the NT's sky-high rate of kidney disease, according to Kidney Health Australia medical adviser Alan Cass.
Australian Story: Mother's Day

Date

October 30, 2015 - 13:06pm

Ronald "Ronno" Morgan is a young tour guide from Wyndham in Western Australia's spectacular Kimberley region. But he's lucky to be alive, having twice faced a life-threatening challenge – first as a five-year-old and again as an adult. Until recently, his life was very much a roller coaster but he was fortunate to have the strong support of a very close family.
Ronald's story to be told

Date

October 08, 2015 - 11:04am

It's been more than two decades since Maria Morgan gave her son Ronald the best gift she could, one of her own kidneys, which enabled him to live independently for 23 years.
Mother's Day

Date

May 29, 2015 - 11:07am

At age five, Ronno Morgan was a young Aboriginal boy from the Kimberly suffering from kidney failure and requiring emergency surgery
World first research shows shocking numbers of preventable deaths from gaps in kidney failure treatment

Date

March 16, 2015 - 17:12pm

Research by Menzies director Professor Alan Cass in collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health has shown that more than two million people globally die unnecessarily every year because they cannot access treatment for kidney failure (dialysis or a kidney transplant).
MJA Insight: 'Let’s end kidney care disparity'

Date

March 09, 2015 - 09:09am

Redoubling efforts to prevent Indigenous Australians developing end-stage kidney disease is crucial given the social and practical difficulties of delivering complex care such as dialysis and transplantation in remote Australia, Dr Paul Lawton has warned.
Study reveals new ground made in fight against kidney disease

Date

March 04, 2015 - 08:00am

New research has revealed an improvement in life expectancy for those suffering from end-stage kidney disease.
Leading kidney researcher asks for greater engagement this World Kidney Day

Date

March 12, 2014 - 09:41am

To mark World Kidney Day, Australia’s first Indigenous kidney specialist has expressed a need for research institutes to have a greater level of engagement with the people who participate in their research efforts.
730NT: Fight against kidney disease scourge

Date

October 14, 2013 - 09:00am

For people from remote communities, the diagnosis of kidney failure often means moving far from home to have life-saving dialysis. Some communities are so concerned about the increasing number of people leaving for dialysis, that they've rallied to set up their own clinics.
Body and build of Indigenous Australians in the spotlight

Date

May 28, 2013 - 12:00pm

The first ever detailed study of the body build and composition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been undertaken to help reduce the risk and impact of kidney disease in Indigenous populations.
Esteemed kidney specialist recognised with national health science award

Date

March 25, 2013 - 12:00pm

One of Australia’s leading kidney specialists has been recognised with a prestigious national award for his contributions to kidney health and advancing Indigenous health.

School of Health Research

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