OurDNA events

To take part in OurDNA, you must:

• Be over 18 years old
• Be eligible for Medicare
• Be able to give a blood sample in Victoria or New South Wales
• Self-identify as having ancestry from one of the communities underrepresented in genetics resources. Visit this page to check which communities we are actively working with.
• People cannot participate if they or anyone in their close family has a known severe genetic health condition, like cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy. This does not include common conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, cancer or diabetes.

At the moment, Australians from the following ancestry groups are under represented or entirely missing in genetic resources:

• East African (e.g., Ethiopian, Ghanaian, Kenyan, Mauritian, Somali, South Sudanese, and Sudanese)
• North African and Middle Eastern (e.g., Assyrian, Chaldean, Egyptian, Iranian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Turkish)
• Oceanian (e.g., Fijian, Papua New Guinean, Samoan, and Tongan)
• South-East Asian (e.g., Cambodian, Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese)

Australian doctors have also told us that it is hard to find information about these ancestry groups in the resources and databases they use to diagnose genetic and health conditions. 

OurDNA is working to engage with the communities underrepresented in genetic resources. Visit this page to check which communities we are actively working with.

OurDNA works with many community organisations to figure out how to best reach, talk with, and invite people from their community to take part in OurDNA. A full list of the community organisations we partner with is available on this page.

OurDNA and the Centre for Population Genomics are also working with a number of research and industry partners to help deliver benefits from the OurDNA program.