The gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health, education, mental health, and social and emotional wellbeing remains a major concern. Bridging these gaps and working in culturally safe and responsive ways with people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent presents considerable challenges, including for the discipline and profession of psychology. At the Australian Psychological Society's (APS) inaugural congress in September 2016, the APS issued an Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait...read more
An array of cumulative risk and stress factors, and social inequities, have contributed to high suicides and family and community dysfunction, in two communities in Queensland. An independent, post-program evaluation of the National Empowerment Project (NEP) Cultural, Social and Emotional Wellbeing (CSEWB) Program specifically developed to address these issues was conducted in Kuranda and Cherbourg communities, Queensland in early 2017. Summaries of 153 stories of most significant change (SMSC) and 30 interviews undertaken with participants...read more
The Frontier Wars refer to conflicts between Europeans and Aboriginal people including battles, acts of resistance and open massacres from 1788 to the 1930s. This website provides an overview of Aboriginal resistance to European colonisation and details a number of specific conflicts across the country. The site includes video discussion with Aboriginal and non-Indigenous peoples about their knowledge of the wars, why we need to know about the conflict, and links to further informationread more
Objective: Empowerment is a complex process of psychological, social, organizational and structural change. It allows individuals and groups to achieve positive growth and effectively address the social and psychological impacts of historical oppression, marginalization and disadvantage. The Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM) was developed to measure change in dimensions of empowerment as defined and described by Aboriginal Australians who participated in the Family Well Being programme. Method: The GEM has two components: a 14-item Emotional...read more
The fourth Slice of LIME Seminar was held on 27th April 2015, hosted by the University of Sydney. This event was a Poche Indigenous Health Network Key Thinkers Forum and a National Senior Teaching Fellowship activity, supported by the Office of Learning and Teaching. The forum focused on identifying and applying critical elements of cultural competency/humility/safety for effective cross-cultural work. It brought together key thinkers in this area to search for common ground, and sought...read more
The second Slice of LIME Seminar was presented by Professor Dennis McDermott & Mr Dave Sjoberg from the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Well-Being at Flinders University South Australia, on 12th August 2014. It focused on cultural safety in health professions, & explored pedagogical methods for addressing issues such as racism, white privilege & stereotyping of Indigenous people, as encountered when teaching health science students. Topics discussed included: Equipping students to challenge cultural safety...read more
In settler-colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, the historical impacts of colonisation on the health, social, economic and cultural experiences of Indigenous peoples are well documented. However, despite being a commonly deployed trope, there has been scant attention paid to precisely how colonial processes contribute to contemporary disparities in health between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in these nation-states. After considering pertinent issues in defining indigeneity, this paper focuses on operationalising...read more
Statements by various public figures that White people ought not to feel guilty about Aboriginal dispossession, and although many Australians assert that they feel no guilt in the matter, this paper asserts that White attitudes to the Australian Aboriginal people are strongly influenced by guilt. The nature of a guilt that ostensibly does not and ought not exist is examined. Persecutory and depressive aspects of guilt are considered, and the history of a two-factor theory...read more
This paper considers the usefulness of theory and practice in mainstream psychology in relation to the experiences of Indigenous people directly affected by the practice of child removal. It consists of an interview in which one of the authors, Joyleen Koolmatrie, an Indigenous psychologist, reflects on her work with Indigenous people affected by the removal, including a description of her workshops, which have been conducted throughout Australia, and a reflection by the authors on the...read more
An annotated poem inspired by the inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families challenges us to consider our involvement in this issue. DOI: 10.1080/00050060008260341read more
