The Wakaid Tribal Council and Flinders University's Rural and Remote Health have partnered to plan the construction of a new renal unit set to service Aboriginal people on remote Queensland islands.

The unit will provide vital dialysis treatment for patients with advanced kidney disease on Queensland's Badu Island, Mao Island and Mabuyag Island.

The community-led project, which received $3.5 million from the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care's Better Renal Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' program will establish a four-chair nurse or health worker assisted haemodialysis unit to service the three islands.

Flinders University's Professor Jaquelyne Hughes is part of the team contributing to health advancement within communities of the near western region (Badu, Kubin, St Paul and Mabuyag).

The Wagadagam woman from Mabuyag Island said she's delighted to be a part of the project

"My cultural acceptance within that community is important, as both family and in terms of the research technical leadership, because the project is such a community-led initiative," Professor Hughes, a clinical research professor at Flinders University and a consultant nephrologist, said.

"By opening a renal unit on Badu Island, it means people will have options to receive care locally, as they have previously needed to relocate to Waibene, or mainland Australia, to receive treatment."

Professor Hughes and Associate Professor Karla Canuto have supported Badu Island Elders since late 2022 and led the community voices feedback during late 2023, contained within the Kikirriu Dan Walmai (KDW) project report.

Their team has presented abstracts related to the KDW project's health restoration work in scientific meetings, and conferences in Adelaide, Cairns and San Francisco, with plans to share them in Canada and the US later this year.

Associate Professor Canuto said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are at least five times more likely to be treated for kidney failure than other Australians.

"The experience of patients has a big impact on their family because family members will often join their loved-one if they have to move to a different town and city," Associate Professor Canuto said.

"This federally funded dialysis building infrastructure program is gratefully received as we work towards restoring family wellbeing for the communities on Badu Island and the near west Torres Strait region.

"Improvements in wellbeing are integral to healthy families and communities, and individuals. This project forms part of a broader regional dialogue of the importance of dialysis services that are sustainable in very remote Australia."

Meaning 'our life is resurrected through overcoming sickness' in Kalalagaw Ya language, the Badu Island haemodialysis unit project is one of several current and anticipated projects within the Kikirriu Dan Walmai project.