Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Career summary
I have thirty years’ experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of health and human services for vulnerable Australians. I have held senior leadership roles in service delivery, program development, system reform, research and public policy.
Most of my career has been in the public sector in large-scale health and human services program design and delivery, funding and public policy. My roles have included leading Aged and Disability services for the NT Government, out of home care policy and funding for the NSW Government and shaping disability policy in NSW. I have also worked in the not-for-profit sector in senior leadership and operational roles and spent a year at Deloitte in their Economics practice. In addition, I have run my own micro-business for more than a decade.
I initiated the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (USyd) program of high impact translational research in 2013 which included Aboriginal academics and community members as Investigators on all research. When I left in 2019, the Poche Centre had eleven research projects across 78 sites producing high impact translational co-designed research in oral health, children’s health, genomics, cardiovascular disease, lung disease and health systems reform. I have since transferred that research to Djurali at Macquarie University.
Research Impact:
Since joining the team at Macquarie University in late 2019, I have been an Investigator on grants totalling $11.05m to co-design, deliver and evaluate services with priority populations including new approaches to oral health, allied health, hearing, workforce and cardiovascular disease. All of my research includes multidisciplinary researchers, students and community members.
1. Remote Indigenous oral health project
Our study established a remote, comprehensive dental program with Aboriginal people. Where interventions to prevent common oral diseases like tooth decay have become available to most Australian children in recent decades, Aboriginal children in rural Australia have historically had limited access to public dental services. The disparity is compounded by the cost of basic supplies like toothpaste and toothbrushes, which may be unattainable for some families, and poor availability of cool filtered drinking water in remote communities. We began our research in 2013 and sought to reduce consumption of sugary drinks by installing refrigerated and filtered water fountains in schools and communities. We also engaged teachers to encourage students to fill up their water bottles and drink from them throughout the school day. We also sought to increase fluoride intake by establishing daily in-school tooth brushing programs, supplying toothbrushes and toothpaste for school and home, and applying fluoride varnish to the children’s teeth once each term. We also provided treatment for existing tooth decay and gum disease.
Impact
In just four years we found a reduction in tooth decay, plaque and gingivitis (gum disease). The average number of teeth with tooth decay per child in 2014 was 5.31, compared to 4.13 in 2018. The proportion of children with no tooth decay increased from 12.5% in 2014 to 20.3% in 2018.There was also a dramatic reduction in the proportion of children with severe gingivitis from 43% in 2014 to 3% in 2018. We also saw an increase in positive oral hygiene behaviour including tooth brushing, consumption of drinking water and reduced consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. In 2014, 13% of children reported brushing their teeth on the morning they took the survey. This increased to 36% in 2018.
This study resulted in funding changes in NSW with funding transferred from Fly in Fly out to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. This remote dental service is now nationally accredited. We compared the cost using two years of Dental Weighted Activity Units (DWAUs) between a Fly in-Fly out program and the community co-design model. The co-design model delivered 47% more treatment at 25% of the cost.
2. School-based fluoride varnish project
Aboriginal children have double the rate of caries of non-Aboriginal children. Fluoride varnish is proven to be safe and effective in the prevention of tooth decay if applied 2-4 times per year. Increasing access to fluoride is part of the NSW Oral Health Plan 2020. Previously, only dental professionals and doctors could apply fluoride varnish. Our study developed and evaluated an effective, systematic and sustainable way to provide fluoride varnish for children at risk of caries.
Our method was based on a co-design process and has been implemented in five stages:
- Policy development (2014)
- Rural/remote School based setting (2015/16)
- Aboriginal Workforce (2017/18)
- Urban scale up (2018-20)
- National Scale-up Assessment (2020/21)
Impact
Our research team has hosted three national meeting seeking to harmonise regulation and policy with respect to fluoride varnish nationally. We have been able to shape the fluoride varnish guidelines for vulnerable populations. We have advised on the implementation of the mobile children’s dental program in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania. We have initiated the Initiative Scale Up Assessment Tool along with colleagues nationally to scale the project across Australia. This project has received funding and in-kind assistance from the NSW Government, Colgate and the MRFF.
3. Vocational education project
Aboriginal people typically have poor completion rates for vocational education (~30%). Employment of Aboriginal people in healthcare services improves the cultural competence of those services. Our study designed, implemented and evaluated a seven step model of delivery of vocation education for Aboriginal students.
Impact
More than 500 vocational education qualifications have been awarded to Aboriginal scholars using the seven step approach with a 93% completion rate. Qualifications have been awarded in a range of healthcare para-professions including: Dental Assisting, Aboriginal Health Worker, Cancer care, Counselling, Health Service Assistance, hearing health.
Education/Academic qualification
Health Sciences, PhD, Applying collective impact to improve health services for Aboriginal people in rural and remote communities. , University of Sydney
Award Date: 19 Sept 2017
Human Services, Masters, Master of Human Services (Disability Services), Griffith University
Award Date: 14 Feb 2008
External positions
Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Sydney
2 Feb 2018 → 2 Oct 2021
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Accelerating development of the Aboriginal workforce in legal services
Gwynne, K., Rambaldini, B., Holt, L. & Barry, L.
1/06/22 → 30/06/25
Project: Research
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MRFF - IHRF 2019: Improving care pathways for Otitis Media in Aboriginal children (0-12): A case study approach
McMahon, C., Pellicano, L., Rambaldini, B., Gwynne, K., Harkus, S., Holt, L., Coates, H., Orr, N., Smith, A., Clague, L., Ganasekera, H. & Kong, K.
1/06/20 → 31/05/23
Project: Research
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Safe water must be free for every Australian child.
Gwynne, K., Skinner, J., Dimitropoulos, Y. & Rambaldini, B.
10/03/20 → 1/06/23
Project: Research
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A mixed methods study of Aboriginal health workers' and exercise physiologists' experiences of co-designing chronic lung disease 'yarning' education resources
Meharg, D. P., Dennis, S. M., McNab, J., Gwynne, K. G., Jenkins, C. R., Maguire, G. P., Jan, S., Shaw, T., McKeough, Z., Rambaldini, B., Lee, V., McCowen, D., Newman, J., Monaghan, S., Longbottom, H., Eades, S. J. & Alison, J. A., 31 Mar 2023, In: BMC Public Health. 23, 1, p. 1-14 14 p., 612.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile8 Downloads (Pure) -
Amplifying older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's perspectives to promote digital health equity: co-designed qualitative study
Henson, C., Chapman, F., Shepherd, G., Carlson, B., Rambaldini, B. & Gwynne, K., 17 Oct 2023, In: Journal of Medical Internet Research. 25, p. 1-14 14 p., e50584.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Downloads (Pure) -
Can an authentic assessment task improve the health behaviours of undergraduate students?
Meincke, J., Gwynne, K., Chiu, C. L., Bhatti, A. J., Christie, V., Janszen, J., Nazareth, L., Needham, I. & Kirwan, M., 17 Jul 2023, In: Education Sciences. 13, 7, p. 1-10 10 p., 727.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)11 Downloads (Pure) -
Clinicians’ perspectives on why young Aboriginal people are not testing for sexually transmissible infections in Western Sydney
Ubrihien, A., Lewis, D. A., Rambaldini, B., Kirwan, M. & Gwynne, K., Oct 2023, In: International Journal of STD and AIDS. 34, 11, p. 803-808 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Does breast cancer policy meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Australia? A review
Christie, V., Riley, L., Green, D., Snook, K., Henningham, M., Rambaldini, B., Amin, J., Pyke, C., Varlow, M., Goss, S., Skinner, J., O’Shea, R., McCowen, D. & Gwynne, K., 5 Jul 2023, In: International Journal for Equity in Health. 22, 1, p. 1-11 11 p., 129.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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Australian Financial Review Inaugural Higher Education Award
Gwynne, Kylie (Recipient), Szerdahelyi, Kim (Recipient) & Rambaldini, Boe (Recipient), 2015
Prize
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Sax Institute Research Action Award/Prize
Gwynne, Kylie (Recipient), 26 Nov 2019
Prize: Other distinction
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The University of Sydney Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence
Gwynne, Kylie (Recipient), Dimitropoulos, Yvonne (Recipient), Christie, Vita (Recipient) & Chao, Jemma (Recipient), 2017
Prize
Activities
- 1 Presentation
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Co-design and knowledge co-production as tools to enable precision medicine for Aboriginal Australians
Kylie Gwynne (Speaker), Boe Rambaldini (Speaker), Debbie McCowen (Speaker), Tom Calma (Speaker), Tiffany Boughtwood (Speaker), John Skinner (Speaker), Alex Brown (Speaker), J. Nunn (Speaker) & Niel Orr (Speaker)
5 Sept 2019 → 6 Sept 2019Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation
Press/Media
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Drinking fountains in every town won't fix all our water issues but its a healthy start
John Skinner & Kylie Gwynne
24/05/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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The Aboriginal communities smiling again (and saving millions)
27/09/17
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research