RESEARCH Open Access Participatory Action Research-Dadirri-Ganma, using Yarning: methodology co-design with Aboriginal community members Hepsibah Sharmil 1,2* , Janet Kelly 3† , Margaret Bowden 4† , Cherrie Galletly 5,6,7,8† , Imelda Cairney 9† , Coral Wilson 10† ˆ , Lisa Hahn 8† , Dennis Liu 8† , Paul Elliot 11† , Joanne Else 11† , Trevor Warrior 11† , Trevor Wanganeen 11† , Robert Taylor 11† , Frank Wanganeen 11† , Jodus Madrid 11† , Lisa Warner 11† , Mandy Brown 11† and Charlotte de Crespigny 3† Abstract Background: Appropriate choice of research design is essential to rightly understand the research problem and derive optimal solutions. The Comorbidity Action in the North project sought to better meet the needs of local people affected by drug, alcohol and mental health comorbidity. The aim of the study focused on the needs of Aboriginal peoples and on developing a truly representative research process. A methodology evolved that best suited working with members of a marginalised Aboriginal community. This paper discusses the process of co- design of a Western methodology (participatory action research) in conjunction with the Indigenous methodologies Dadirri and Ganma. This co-design enabled an international PhD student to work respectfully with Aboriginal community members and Elders, health professionals and consumers, and non-Indigenous service providers in a drug and alcohol and mental health comorbidity project in Adelaide, South Australia. Methods: The PhD student, Aboriginal Elder mentor, Aboriginal Working Party, and supervisors (the research team) sought to co-design a methodology and applied it to address the following challenges: the PhD student was an international student with no existing relationship with local Aboriginal community members; many Aboriginal people deeply distrust Western research due to past poor practices and a lack of implementation of findings into practice; Aboriginal people often remain unheard, unacknowledged and unrecognised in research projects; drug and alcohol and mental health comorbidity experiences are often distressing for Aboriginal community members and their families; attempts to access comorbidity care often result in limited or no access; and Aboriginal community members experience acts of racism and discrimination as health professionals and consumers of health and support services. The research team considered deeply how knowledge is shared, interpreted, owned and controlled, by whom and how, within research, co-morbidity care and community settings. The PhD student was supported to co-design a methodology that was equitable, democratic, liberating and life-enhancing, with real potential to develop feasible solutions. © The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. * Correspondence: principalccn@care.edu.in; hepsifrancis@gmail.com † Janet Kelly, Margaret Bowden, Cherrie Galletly, Imelda Cairney, Coral Wilson, Lisa Hahn, Dennis Liu, Paul Elliot, Joanne Else, Trevor Warrior, Trevor Wanganeen, Robert Taylor, Frank Wanganeen, Jodus Madrid, Lisa Warner, Mandy Brown and Charlotte de Crespigny contributed equally to this work. 1 Chettinad College of Nursing (CCN), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Chettinad Health City, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, OMR, 603103, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India 2 Dr. M.G.R Educational and Research Institute, Maduravoil, Chennai, India Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Sharmil et al. International Journal for Equity in Health (2021) 20:160 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01493-4