Associate Professor Kathleen Falster
PhD, MPH, BAppSc(Hons).
I am an Associate Professor at 91色情片's School of Population Health where I lead the NSW Child E-Cohort Research Program.
I am an epidemiologist with expertise in translational research, linked administrative data and data analytics. I lead research to inform and evaluate policy and service delivery initiatives that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of children and families, in NSW and nationally. I work with government and non-government organisations, using local, statewide and national data to bring a public health perspective to policy, service design and delivery across the health, child protection, education and social sectors.
I also contribute to building population health workforce capacity through my teaching of epidemiological methods to postgraduate students and my leadership role as the School of Population Health Research Projects Coordinator.听
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Multi-jurisdictional grant funded projects:
- 2025-2028 The HEAL E-Cohort Study: Transforming Health and Wellbeing Outcomes from Injury for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.听NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant ($4. M), CI (Lead, NSW linked data stream of NSW-SA Project).
- 2023-2027 Are we meeting the health needs of 50,000 children in out-of-home care?听MRFF Research Data Infrastructure Grant ($2.4M), CI (Lead, NSW stream of the NSW-SA project).
- 2020-2025 听Transforming the health system response to child maltreatment: the need for cross-jurisdictional e-cohorts. NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant ($1,248,388), CIA.
NSW grant funded projects:
- 2024-2027 . NSW Health ($350,000), CIA.
- 2021-2026听 Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success.听ARC Discovery Indigenous Grant ($427,685), CI听(Lead,听data linkage stream of mixed method project).
- 2021-2025听 Evaluation of Sustaining NSW Families, NSW Health tender ($400,000), CI (Lead, Outcome听Evaluation).听
- 2020-2025听听ACCESS: Aboriginal Community Controlled Ear health Support System: developing, embedding and evaluating best practice models of care.听MRFF Grant ($887,186),听CI听(Lead,听data linkage stream听of mixed project).
I am the Director of the NSW Child E-Cohort Research Program at 91色情片's School of Population Health. Below are projects led by my team that use/d the NSW Child E-Cohort data asset in the last five years.
Research projects focused on the whole population or priority populations of children and families in NSW:
1. A NSW Health funded project to inform policy and service delivery for mothers, babies, children and families in the .
2. The ARC-funded Bring Them Home Keep Them Home project, led by Associate Professor听BJ Newton,听uses qualitative and quantitative research methods听to inform the prevention of听child removals and early restoration of Aboriginal children from out-of-home care (OOHC) in NSW.听
3. The听MRFF-funded ACCESS project uses qualitative and quantitative research methods听to inform听and evaluate ear health services and outcomes for听Aboriginal children in NSW.
4. The NSW Health funded evaluation of the Sustaining NSW Families program - the Outcome evaluation used local district screening and program data, linked to the NSW Child E-Cohort data asset, to emulate a trial of the program versus usual care on child outcomes in the first two years of life.听
Research projects focused on the whole population or priority populations of children and families across multiple jurisdictions:
5. An NHMRC-funded project to inform and evaluate policy and service delivery responses to听children and families involved with child protection services in NSW and South Australia.听
6. An MRFF-funded project on the how well we are meeting the health needs of children in out-of-home care in NSW and South Australia.听
7. An NHMRC-funded project to inform policy and service delivery responses to support hospitalised injury and subsequent outcomes for Aboriginal children in NSW and South Australia.听
8. An ARC-funded project focused on 听in NSW, South Australia and Western Australia.
During my NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, I primarily led and collaborated on听research projects focused on health outcomes in Aboriginal children and inequities, including:听
- The NHMRC-funded focused on early childhood health and development in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in NSW. I provide an overview of some of the study outputs in this 听for the Dept. of Communities and Justice Research Strategy launch in 2021.听
- The NHMRC-funded Indigenous Health Outcomes Patient Evaluation (IHOPE) study focused on inequities in potentially avoidable听hospitalisations, surgical procedures for middle ear disease, and hospitalisations for unintentional injuries between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in NSW, using whole-population linked data.
- The NHMRC-funded听,听which led to evidence on听injuries, asthma, ear health and hospitalisations in Aboriginal children attending four Aboriginal community-controlled health services in major cities and inner regional centres in NSW.听
I engage with media and other organisations to communicate the findings of our research to policy makers, service providers and community members.
The Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home Project investigator team, led by Dr BJ Newton at 91色情片's Social Policy and Research Centre, recently published the following article in The Conversation:
Select examples of media from the Seeding Success study can be found .
We work closely with policy agencies to translate research findings into policy and practice, via presentations and written communcation. For example, see the following Evidence to Action Note produced with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice titled:听
My Research Supervision
Current supervision:
2025-ongoing: Primary supervisor, PhD candidate. Hearing the call: evidence to inform innovative models of care to improve ear health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in NSW.听
Completed supervision:
2021-2025: Primary supervisor, PhD candidate. Maternal substance use, child protection system contacts and developmental outcomes: evidence to inform health system-led prevention responses for children and families in the First 2000 Days (chapters published in academic journals: ; ; .
2025:听Co-supervisor, Masters of Public Health student. Investigating Diagnostic Methods for Onchocerciasis: a scoping literature review.听
2019-2023: Joint supervisor, PhD candidate.听Systematic review and an evaluation of family preservation and restoration programs in NSW.
2022: Co-supervisor, Masters of Public Health student. .听
2013-2017: Co-supervisor,听PhD.听Inequalities in injury hospitalisations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in NSW.听
My Teaching
I teach epidemiological methods in two postgraduate courses:
- (PHCM9518) - Course convenor
- (PHCM9794) - Lecturer
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I am also the School of Population Health听Research Project Coordinator for the听6, 12 or 18 UOC Research Projects,听available to eligible postgraduate coursework students.