Historically, Indigenous Australian are largely obliged to rely on a health system and services that they have not developed and that they do not control. Through successful collaboration with local Indigenous community leaders and stakeholders over the past 5 years, developing co-designed evidenced based programs that translate into best practice are becoming the norm for Indigenous health research and in South West and Central Queensland. I will present 3 NHMRC funded projects that demonstrate Participatory Action research shows great efficacy and translates into data that leads to better outcomes. Emphasis and resourcing of targeted, evidence-based community engagement at the front end of research, to increase health literacy and knowledge ultimately enhances input into research and improvements of service delivery in the catchment area of these projects