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ARTWORK: Maddy Brown
Who is science really for? INTERVIEWED BY SAI CAMPBELL
An interview with Azure Hermes from the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Woroni sat down with Ms. Azure Hermes from the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG) to examine the way science has historically exploited and overlooked vulnerable groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Science as a field must become cognizant of the uncomfortable reality that its benefits are not distributed equally. There have been many historical harms that have been dealt against Indigenous communities both here in Australia and abroad. Sai will be discussing with Azure the role of the NCIG in ensuring that the Indigenous voice is heard in genomics research here in Australia. Sai: Thank you for taking the time to sit down with me today. In this issue we are examining the idea of discomfort and it is pretty uncomfortable to realise that science often exploits and overlooks so many groups, particularly when we look at the treatment of Indigenous Australians. Azure: Thank you - Aboriginal people will say that they feel like the most researched group of
people in the world because they feel like there’s constantly people coming in and wanting to do some form of research. And yet when you look at genomics, we’re the most underrepresented population in the world! S: Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do? A: My name is Azure Hermes. I’m a Gimuy Walubara Yidinj woman from Cairns, Queensland. My family are the traditional owners of Cairns. I have two jobs here at NCIG - I’m the Deputy Director, but I’m also the Community Engagement Coordinator. S: Can you tell us more about NCIG and how it came to be? A: NCIG has a historical collection of blood samples. We have over 7,000 from 35 different communities across Australia. The collection that we have is actually part of a worldwide study of about 200,000 samples. In the 1990s, the university put a
