Dire sanitation causing premature death is common to slums across the world.
For the most part running water is rare, toilets are rudimentary and sewerage and drainage are either ineffective or non-existent.
Monash University Professor Rebekah Brown is determined to change that.
She's leading a $14 million, five-year project which she aims to improve health outcomes by revitalising sanitation infrastructure.
"These are localised infrastructure and architectural solutions that capture water, that cleans water, that recycles it for urban agriculture and provides an alternative supply of water for these vulnerable communities."
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Following consultation with the communities, the project will initially focus on revitalising slums in Indonesia and Fiji.
Professor Brown says it will take place with what she describes as an unprecedented cross-section of professionals.
"We have medical researchers, engineers, ecologists, scientists, economists, social scientists and architects all coming together."
The research will focus on infrastructure and sustainable design.
But infectious disease specialist Doctor Karin Leder says it's underpinned by improving health outcomes.
"Inadequate water and sanitation leads to the death of over three-quarters of a million children every year - particularly children under five who are most vulnerable to the impacts of infections from contaminants in the environment."
Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg says the outcomes are potentially profound and should assist greatly in planning the world over.
"The findings will contribute to how infrastructure policies, investments, loan strategies and their sustainability across the Asia-Pacific and the developing world are implemented."
And once a working model is established, Professor Brown hopes the concept will be applied elsewhere.
"We should be able to roll out this new solution to providing supply, sanitation and flood protection to the urban poor globally - to other parts of the world outside the Asia Pacific and to our own remote communities here in Australia."
Work on the project will begin in July.
