Jo Mottram

Biography

Jo is a proud Aboriginal (Yorta Yorta) woman and the recipient of the Aunty Bea Ballangary Research Fellowship within the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University (SCU). She also holds roles as Senior Research Officer and Casual Research Academic at James Cook University (JCU).

In her research fellow role at SCU she contributes to several national Indigenous health initiatives, including SISTAQUIT, SISTABIRTH (Birthing on Country), and SISTASCREEN. At JCU, Jo is currently leading the independent evaluation of the MyndKind Stepped Care System for the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network and is also lead in the development of a culturally responsive measure of maternal–foetal attachment for culturally and linguistically diverse populations across CANZUS countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), in collaboration with the THRIVE Lab at University of California, Irvine.

Research

Jo’s research focuses on Indigenous health and wellbeing across the perinatal period, with particular emphasis on culturally grounded understandings of attachment, bonding, and kinship systems. Her work centres cultural strengths and the lived experience of motherhood, applying strengths-based and trauma-informed approaches grounded in Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing. Through this work, she seeks to improve infant, perinatal, and mental health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants, women, and families, while also examining the intersections of intergenerational trauma, family and domestic violence, systemic racism, and broader health inequities.

Other

Jo is a member of the Psychology of Active, Healthy Living (PAHL) research group at JCU and holds professional memberships with the Margaret Roderick Centre for Mental Health Research, the JCU Centre for Rural, Remote and Tropical Health Systems, Indigenous Allied Health Australia, Lowitja Institute, and Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand. She is actively involved in Indigenous research capacity building through mentoring Indigenous psychology students across universities and co-supervising honours research focused on the development of culturally responsive maternal–foetal bonding measures. Her research has attracted more than $200,000 in competitive grants and awards and has contributed to the development of state-level perinatal policy and guidelines.