Developed by Dr Anita D’Aprano in collaboration with Aboriginal community partners, it is an evidence-based, strengths-based approach to developmental screening. The ASQ-TRAK tool enables earlier identification of developmental issues, which will facilitate access to early intervention programs and supports that will promote improved developmental outcomes.
The ASQ-TRAK engages caregivers in culturally safe developmental monitoring practices to support them to link in with services and programs that improve developmental outcomes and improve school readiness. It is now available for use in practice, and is used in education, health, and community service settings, with opportunities for staff from multiple sectors to participate in joint training to build stronger relationships and opportunities for collaboration.
The ASQ-Steps for Measuring Aboriginal Child Development (ASQ-STEPS) is the next tool being adapted. This is a culturally appropriate developmental outcome measure that will help generate knowledge to tell us what early childhood programs work for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and therefore shape future interventions and programs we offer. The ASQ-STEPS is being designed and validated and is not currently available outside of the research project.
Dr Anita D’Aprano is a developmental paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Child Health at the University of Melbourne.
She developed the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool – the first culturally appropriate tool for use with Australian Aboriginal children – following exploring developmental monitoring practices in Aboriginal populations.
Anita continues to lead Indigenous child health research, principally in the development of culturally appropriate and validated measures. She has particular interest in and commitment to engaging Aboriginal communities to maximise the benefit of research, so it makes a significant difference to the well-being of Aboriginal children and families.
Her current research program is focused on:
Learn more at Anita's Find an Expert profile.
Isabel Brookes is the Project Coordinator for the ASQ-STEPS research program. She has worked in research and professional roles on projects in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts since 2014, and has been working with communities on the ASQ-STEPS research program since 2018.
Before working with the STRONG kids, STRONG future team, Isabel's work was centred on the implementation of evidence-based approaches in early learning settings; building the professional capacity of early childhood practitioners working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children; and engaging families in early learning and development.
Isabel believes that the effective integration of health and education in early childhood environments is essential to achieving learning and development equity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non-Indigenous children; and that to achieve this authentic and respectful partnerships must be established and maintained with families, organisations and communities.
Amber is a research assistant for ASQ-TRAK. Amber supports the team to ensure that the administrative processes of ASQ-TRAK are maintained, so that the workshops and certification run smoothly. She brings with her 10 years of health administration experience and technical knowledge of learning management systems.
Amber is currently in the final year of her medical degree and will be graduating from the University of Melbourne as a junior doctor at the end of 2023. As a future medical practitioner, Amber has a particular interest in paediatric rural, remote, and Indigenous health. Amber is passionate about contributing to work that will enable families to access culturally safe health care across Australia.
Gayle Simpson is the Training Coordinator for ASQ-TRAK. Gayle manages ASQ-TRAK training implementation, coordination and development nationally. She is also a Master Trainer and delivers training workshops.
Gayle has a background in child health nursing, along with early childhood teaching and special education qualifications, affording her the opportunity to work for many years across health and education in the early childhood early intervention sector. Gayle lived and worked in Alice Springs for many years, with 10 of these years spent managing early intervention programs that supported developmentally vulnerable Aboriginal children aged 0-5 years. First introduced to the ASQ-TRAK and trained by the ASQ-TRAK Research Team in 2015, Gayle has been using the tool in practice, or managing teams using the ASQ-TRAK ever since.
She is passionate about the ASQ-TRAK and its capacity to promote improved developmental outcomes for children. Gayle is grateful to be positioned to help others learn about Australia’s only evidence-based, culturally adapted developmental screening tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
Eleanor Jackson is the Program Manager for STRONG kids, STRONG future and supports the team in their research and development of appropriate developmental measurement tools for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. She has over 20 years strategic leadership and program management experience with community projects related to gender, sexual and reproductive health; maternal and child health; gender-based violence; and evidence-based practice, both in Australia and overseas.
Prior to joining STRONG kids, STRONG future, Eleanor developed a strong interest in achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity as Program Manager for the Australian Nurse-Family Partnership Program Support Service, which supports a nurse-led home visiting program for women pregnant with an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child from early pregnancy into the baby’s infancy and childhood. Subsequently, Eleanor led the Oxfam-Monash Partnership, a decade-long collaboration bringing together one of the world’s top NGOs with leading researchers to advance evidence-based practice in international development in the focus areas of climate change, migration, gender equality and accountability.
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Dr Anita D’Aprano is a developmental paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Child Health at the University of Melbourne.
She developed the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool – the first culturally appropriate tool for use with Australian Aboriginal children – following exploring developmental monitoring practices in Aboriginal populations.
Anita continues to lead Indigenous child health research, principally in the development of culturally appropriate and validated measures. She has particular interest in and commitment to engaging Aboriginal communities to maximise the benefit of research, so it makes a significant difference to the well-being of Aboriginal children and families.
Her current research program is focused on:
Learn more at Anita's Find an Expert profile.
Dr Anita D’Aprano is a developmental paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Child Health at the University of Melbourne.
She developed the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool – the first culturally appropriate tool for use with Australian Aboriginal children – following exploring developmental monitoring practices in Aboriginal populations.
Anita continues to lead Indigenous child health research, principally in the development of culturally appropriate and validated measures. She has particular interest in and commitment to engaging Aboriginal communities to maximise the benefit of research, so it makes a significant difference to the well-being of Aboriginal children and families.
Her current research program is focused on:
Learn more at Anita's Find an Expert profile.
Dr Anita D’Aprano is a developmental paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Child Health at the University of Melbourne.
She developed the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool – the first culturally appropriate tool for use with Australian Aboriginal children – following exploring developmental monitoring practices in Aboriginal populations.
Anita continues to lead Indigenous child health research, principally in the development of culturally appropriate and validated measures. She has particular interest in and commitment to engaging Aboriginal communities to maximise the benefit of research, so it makes a significant difference to the well-being of Aboriginal children and families.
Her current research program is focused on:
Learn more at Anita's Find an Expert profile.
How working with community stakeholders helped Anita D'Aprano create the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool – the first culturally appropriate tool for use with Australian Aboriginal children.
What is ASQ-TRAK? Why do we need an adapted tool? How is ASQ-TRAK different to the ASQ®-3?
Enhancing culturally appropriate developmental services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children - ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool.
When she discovered there was no culturally appropriate tool to measure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infant development, Dr Anita D’Aprano and her collaborators developed one.
What does early intervention really mean, what is best practice in different population groups and how is this changing under the NDIS?
Anita D'Aprano on why community engagement matters.
Identifying developmental difficulties in young children from remote Aboriginal communities early boosts their chances of success later in life, and a new tool is helping.
