Diabetes significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the impact of both diabetes and CVD is particularly detrimental in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Understanding what drives these differences is paramount to improving the prevention and management of CVD for Indigenous people. Although several large studies of Indigenous populations have examined the impact of diabetes and related metabolic factors, most have been conducted in remote populations, which may differ considerably to an urban community. The Darwin Region Urban Indigenous Diabetes (DRUID) study was established to address this gap. DRUID included 1004 (67% women) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander volunteers aged ≥15 years, and baseline testing was conducted between September 2003 and March 2005. Baseline measures included fasting and two-hour plasma glucose from a 75gm oral glucose tolerance test, fasting lipids, haemoglobin A_1C, blood pressure, anthropometrics, lifestyle factors and medical conditions. Seven to nine year follow-up on consenting participants for mortality and CVD outcomes were obtained using (i) data linkage to the National Death Index, (ii) Northern Territory and South Australian hospital separations databases, and (iii) self-reported hospitalisations obtained by survey and adjudicated from medical records. Of the 979 who were eligible and consented to at least one type of follow-up, 917 (94%) were followed up with data linkage and/or the survey. Our experience demonstrates that it is possible to successfully follow up an urban Indigenous population using a combination of methods. These data will provide valuable information relating to the development of CVD and the contribution of diabetes-related metabolic CVD risk factors to fatal and non-fatal CVD events and total mortality in an urban Indigenous population.