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Dennis Gray

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Professor & Deputy Director, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University

Professor Dennis Gray is a Deputy Director at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, and a leader of the Institute’s Aboriginal Research Program. He is an eminent researcher in this area and has a long history of conducting collaborative research with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. Professor Gray has published extensively on Aboriginal substance misuse issues and has been invited to give presentations on his research in various national and international forums. His most recent work has focused upon the provision of alcohol and other drug services and on enhancing options for the management of alcohol- and cannabis-related problems in Aboriginal community-controlled health services. His research has had demonstrable outcomes at the national, state/territory and regional/local levels. He is a member of the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee, his research team was awarded the 2006 National Alcohol and Drug Award for Excellence in Research, and in 2010 – in recognition of his significant contribution to the alcohol and other drugs field – he was named on the National Drug and Alcohol Honour Roll.

Experience

  • 1992–present
    Professor, National Drug Research Institute

Education

  • 1982 
    University of Hawaii, PhD - Medical Anthropology
  • 1980 
    University of Hawaii, MPH - International Health
  • 1978 
    University of Western Australia, MA - Anthropology
  • 1974 
    University of Western Australia, BA - Anthropology & History

Publications

  • 2012
    Symons M, Gray D, Chikritzhs T, Skov S, Saggers S, Boffa J, Low J. A longitudinal study of influences on alcohol consumption and related harm in Central Australia: with a particular emphasis on the role of price. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University: Perth. [ISBN 978-0-9873641-0-4],
  • 2012
    Gray D. Is the demand for alcohol in Indigenous Australian communities ‘price inelastic’? Drug and Alcohol Review 31(6): 818–812.,
  • 2011
    Gray D, Wilkes E. Alcohol restrictions in Indigenous communities: an effective strategy if Indigenous led., Medical Journal of Australia 194 (10): 508
  • 2010
    Gray D, Stearne A, Wilson M, Doyle MF. Indigenous-specific Alcohol and Other Drug Interventions: Continuities, Changes and Areas of Greatest Need. ANCD Research Paper 20. Canberra: Australian National Council on Drugs. [ISBN 9781877018237],
  • 2010
    Gray D. The Northern Territory Emergency Response and cannabis use in remote Aboriginal communities. (Refereed letter to the Editor.), Medical Journal of Australia 192 (10): 555.
  • 2010
    Gray D, Wilkes E. Addressing and preventing harmful alcohol and other drug use. Closing the Gap Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australian Institute of Family Studies.,
  • 2009
    Gray D, Saggers S. Indigenous health: the perpetuation of inequality. In Germov J (ed) Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology (4th edn). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp.156–174. [ISBN 9780195562811],
  • 2009
    Pascal R, Chikritzhs T, Gray D. Estimating alcohol-attributable mortality among Indigenous Australians: towards Indigenous-specific alcohol aetiologic fractions., Drug and Alcohol Review 28: 196–200.
  • 2008
    Gray D, Saggers S, Atkinson D, Wilkes E. Substance Misuse. In Couzos S, Murray A (eds) Aboriginal Primary Health Care: An Evidence-Based Approach 3rd edn. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Ch 20: 755–787. [ISBN 9780195551389],
  • 2007
    Saggers S, Gray D. Social determinants of health: defining what we mean. In Carson B, Dunbar T, Chenhall R, Baille R. (eds) The Social Determinants of Aboriginal Health. Sydney: Allen & Unwin Ch 1:1–20. [ISBN 978-74175-142-0],
  • 2006
    Gray D, Jackson Pulver L, Saggers S, Waldon J. Addressing indigenous substance misuse and related harms., Drug and Alcohol Review 25: 183–188.
  • 2005
    Gray D, Saggers S. The evidence base for responding to substance misuse in indigenous minority populations. In Stockwell T, Gruenewald P, Toumbourou J, Loxley W. Preventing Harmful Substance Use: The Evidence Base for Policy and Practice. Chichester: Wiley & Sons. Ch 6.7: 381–393. [ISBN 0 470 09227 0],
  • 2004
    Gray D, Saggers S, Atkinson D, Strempel P. Substance Misuse and Primary Health Care Among Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Review: Consultant Report No 7. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Aging [ISBN 0 642 82501 7],
  • 2004
    Clough AR, d'Abbs P, Cairney S, Gray D, Maruff P, Parker R, O'Reilly B. Emerging patterns of cannabis and other substance use in Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory: a study of two communities., Drug and Alcohol Review 23: 381–390.
  • 2004
    Strempel P, Saggers S, Gray D, Stearne A. Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Projects: Elements of Best Practice. ANCD Research Paper 8. Canberra: Australian National Council on Drugs. [ISBN 1 877018 09 0],
  • 2003
    Gray D, Saggers S. Substance misuse. In Thomson N (ed) The Health of Indigenous Australians. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Ch 7: 158–185. [ISBN 0 19 551220 0],
  • 2002
    Saggers S, Gray D. Theorising Indigenous health: a political economy of health and substance misuse., Health Sociology Review 10(2): 21–32.
  • 2002
    Gray D, Sputore B, Stearne A, Bourbon D, Strempel P. Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Projects: 1999–2000. ANCD Research Paper 4. Canberra: Australian National Council on Drugs. [ISBN 1 877018 03 1],
  • 2002
    Gray D, Saggers S, Hulse G, Atkinson D. An approach to substance misuse problems among Indigenous Australians. In Cape G, White J, Hulse G (eds) Management of Alcohol and Drug Problems. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Ch 17: 310–327. [ISBN 0 19 551331 2],
  • 2000
    Gray D, Chikritzhs T. Regional variation in alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory., Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 24(1): 35–38.
  • 2000
    Gray D, Saggers S, Sputore B, Bourbon D. What works? A review of alcohol misuse interventions among Aboriginal Australians., Addiction 95(1): 11–22.
  • 2000
    Gray D. Indigenous Australians and liquor licensing restrictions (invited and refereed editorial)., Addiction 95(10): 1469–72.
  • 2000
    Gray D, Saggers S, Atkinson D, Sputore B, Bourbon D. Beating the grog: an evaluation of the Tennant Creek liquor licensing restrictions., Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 24(1): 39–44
  • 1998
    Saggers S, Gray D. Dealing with Alcohol: Indigenous Usage in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1998. [ISBN 0 521 62977 2],
  • 1991
    Saggers S, Gray D. Aboriginal Health and Society: The Traditional and Contemporary Aboriginal Struggle for Better Health. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991. [ISBN 1 86373 057 5],

Honours

2010 National Drug and Alcohol Award - Significant contribution to the reduction of harms from alcohol and other drug use.