Elissa Elvidge

Dr Elissa Jane Elvidge is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the University of Newcastle (NSW) and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing health system performance measurements, with a particular focus on the empirical assessment of cultural safety in healthcare settings.
Dr Elvidge completed her PhD in 2021, during which she developed a cultural safety framework for NSW hospitals. A key outcome of this work was the creation of a novel, validated Cultural Safety Scale (CSS) designed to measure cultural safety from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The CSS has since been adapted and applied by Indigenous academics and health services across Australia including the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and the NSW Bureau of Health Information as well as internationally in New Zealand, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska and the Basque Country. A recent publication in the Lowitja Journal demonstrated the utility of the CSS in guiding systemwide service reform.
With more than 18 years of professional experience in Aboriginal health and clinical research including roles within public health prior to undertaking her PhD, Dr Elvidge is skilled in qualitative and quantitative data analysis. As a principal investigator, she leads several MRFF funded multidisciplinary research projects that aim to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. She is also an investigator on Wilya Janta, a community led project evaluating culturally safe, climate-appropriate housing in the Northern Territory, and on a South Australian initiative developing anti racism education for clinicians and students.
Dr Elvidge is recognised nationally as a subject matter expert in cultural safety and systemic racism and their impacts on health. She has been appointed to a national advisory committees, alongside the National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance, providing advice to the Australian Government on the First Nations Schedule of the National Health Reform Agreement. She has also advised the Strategic Policy Section of the First Nations Health Division and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Her expertise has been sought by the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association, for which she has delivered cultural safety and anti racism workshops as part of the Cross College Specialist Trainee Support Program. Most recently, she was invited to review an evidence brief on racism and cultural safety for the NSW Health Critical Intelligence Unit.
In 2025, Dr Elvidge received a prestigious scholarship through the Australian Hospitals and Healthcare Association’s Deeble Institute to develop a policy brief on cultural safety measurement and monitoring within the Australian health system. Her leadership in health equity and cultural safety research has been recognised with awards from the Public Health Association of Australia, the University of Newcastle, and the College of Medicine, Health and Wellbeing.