Associate Professor Summer Finlay - From Evidence to Action: Research, Evidence, and Policy Influence

Seminar Overview

Translating research into meaningful policy change remains a significant challenge for many researchers. This seminar explores practical strategies for generating policy-relevant evidence and effectively communicating research findings to policymakers, decision-makers, and other influential stakeholders.

Participants will gain insights into framing research for policy impact, identifying and engaging the right audiences, and using timely, strategic communication to bridge the gap between evidence and action.

The seminar will place particular emphasis on driving real-world change that supports improved health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, grounded in principles of equity, self-determination, and meaningful engagement.

Speaker

Associate Professor Summer May Finlay (CSCA, BSSC, GC-EDHE, MPHA, PhD) is a Yorta Yorta woman, mother of two, and is a respected Indigenous public health scholar and sector leader. She brings more than 20 years of experience across the tertiary sector, government, and Indigenous organisations, with a career defined by Indigenous-led research, policy influence, and system-level reform.

She is an Associate Professor of Indigenous Health and Director of the Ngarruwan Ngadju Research Centre at the University of Wollongong, where she leads high-impact, community-driven research grounded in Indigenous Standpoint and sovereignty.

Over the past 15 years, Associate Professor Finlay has developed and led nationally significant research programs focused on Indigenous health service delivery, public health policy, and the structural drivers of health inequity. Her work spans research with young Aboriginal people, mixed-methods studies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary care, women's health, health media and communications, and the evaluation of complex health and wellbeing programs. Her research is widely recognised for its methodological rigour, policy relevance, and strong commitment to translating evidence into tangible systems and policy change.

Her contributions have been recognised through multiple prestigious awards, including three honours from the Public Health Association of Australia (President's Award in 2017 and 2021, and Fellowship in 2020), the University of Wollongong Open Access Week Indigenous Award (2024), and being Highly Commended in the Vice-Chancellor's Rosemary Cooper Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Head of Teaching and Learning; Academic Program Director; and Co-Chair of the Indigenous Research Strategy Committee. Nationally and internationally, she serves as Chair of Thirrili, Editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Co-Chair of the World Federation of Public Health Associations Indigenous Working Group, and a Board Director of Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia.