 Foreword The National Forum for Development of Strategies to Increase the Numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Nursing, held in August 1997, funded by the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services was an historic event. Recommendations from the first meeting made a number of recommendations with implications for the public and private sectors, the higher education sector and primary, secondary and tertiary health delivery mechanisms. The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses (CATSIN) was founded to formally represent Indigenous nurses, with a commitment to the implementation of the recommendations. A second meeting in August 1998 augmented the original recommendations and sought to shape an organisation of relevance to the nursing profession and to Indigenous nurses. Acknowledgments to Sally Goold and Irene Fisher for their initial vision, to Sally Goold for her drive, enthusiasm, inclusiveness and willingness to share information. Acknowledgment to OATSIHS for its generous funding, enabling participants to attend both national meetings. Acknowledgment also to Cathy Fasciale and Robyn Coulthard for planning and organising the meetings and for acting as Secretariat to CATSIN. Special thanks go to Mrs Sylvia (Ingram) Scott, a Wirradjuri woman and local Elder from Camperdown, Sydney, who stepped into the role of welcoming participants, and to Auntie Jessie Budby and Aunty Beryl Wharton, retired Aboriginal Mental Health Workers, who welcomed participants in Brisbane. Thank you too, to Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue, Patron of CATSIN, for giving her time to the profession in which her long career began. Most importantly, acknowledgment goes to each indigenous nurse attending each meeting. The commitment and diligence of each person has ensured the outcomes are meaningful, sound and representative of an expert group within the nursing profession whose contribution has long been overlooked. 
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