A profile of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education student population
This paper brings together recent statistics relating to the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education. A number of key statistical realities relating to their enrolment into, retention during, and completion of, their university courses are depicted. Foremost amongst these realities is that despite the initiatives over recent years to redress […]
Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership in Mental Health
The Wharerātā Group of Indigenous mental health leaders from Canada, the United States, Australia, Samoa and New Zealand developed the Wharerātā Declaration in 2010.1 It comprises five themes on the importance of Indigenous leadership in addressing the common mental health challenges faced by Indigenous peoples around the world. Member countries of the International Initiative for […]
Australian Medical Association 2015 Report card on Indigenous Health
Aboriginal communities improving Aboriginal health: An evidence review on the contribution of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health
Aboriginal communities have a long history of working to address the needs of Aboriginal peoples. Since the first Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) was established in Redfern, NSW in 1971, more than 150 ACCHSs have been established around Australia. While the Aboriginal community controlled health sector has long argued that ACCHSs are a vital […]
Implementation Plan for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023
Both the Implementation Plan and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023 (Health Plan) have been developed in close partnership with the National Health Leadership Forum and reflect the priorities that will improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Implementation Plan outlines the actions to be […]
Cultural competency in the delivery of health services for Indigenous people
This review aims to examine available evidence on cultural competence in health care settings to identify key approaches and strategies that can contribute to improving the development and implementation of Indigenous health services and programs.
Supporting Aboriginal mental health workers: research into perspectives on system change
This report is an evaluation of the Aboriginal Mental Health Workers (AMHW) program in remote northern Australia, and highlights the perspectives and experiences of Aboriginal Health Workers. The study included the perspectives of six Aboriginal Mental Health Workers from three sites across northern Australia, in addition to consultation with multiple stakeholders, including clinic managers and […]
Overview of Australian Indigenous health status 2014
This Overview of Australian Indigenous health status provides a comprehensive summary of the most recent indicators of the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia (states and territories are: New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), Queensland (Qld), Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (Tas), The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and The […]
Aboriginal Children and Young People Speak Out
Since 2007, Aboriginal children and young people have participated in a range of the Commissioner’s consultation projects on topics such as wellbeing, mental health and alcohol-related harm. Additionally, the Commissioner has consulted with Aboriginal children and young people, their families and communities, during many visits to regional and remote communities from Kununurra to Albany and […]
Rising Spirits Community Resilience Project – Final Research Report
The Rising Spirits Project investigated what supports Aboriginal people need during bereavement, what is available that is being utilised by Aboriginal people, where the gaps are and the levels of community and state readiness to address grief and loss.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2014 Report
This is the fifth report against the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF). The HPF monitors progress in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes, health system performance and the broader determinants of health. The health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is improving for a number of measures, although there […]
Social Justice and Native Title Report 2015
The Social Justice and Native Title Report from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is delivered to the Australian Parliament on the exercise and enjoyment of the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This also includes reporting on the operation of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and its […]
The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2015 is the eighth in a series of reports that provide a comprehensive statistical picture of a range of topics considered important for improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people. The report presents up-to-date statistics, as well as trend information. It examines […]
Effective strategies to strengthen the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
This paper seeks to provide an evidence-based, theoretically coherent discussion of the factors that influence the effective development, implementation and outcomes of initiatives to address Indigenous mental health and wellbeing issues. It seeks to assess whether the current investment in Indigenous people’s mental health is aligned with available evidence on what works. To this end, […]
The Elders Report into preventing Indigenous self-harm and youth suicide
Interview excerpts of Elders featured in the Report. The Culture Is Life campaign aims to give a platform for Indigenous Elders and community leaders to influence public awareness, policy-making and service provision around Indigenous suicide prevention. One of the initial actions of the Culture Is Life campaign was the development of the’Elders Report on Preventing […]
The third conversation: has anything changed?
The Roundtable brought together Aboriginal community leaders and experts in Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention along with experts, scholars and policy makers to engage in a third conservation about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and suicide prevention with Emeritus Professor Michael Chandler from the University of British Columbia. The Roundtable style enabled […]
Shifting gears in careers: Identifying drivers of career development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers in the health sector
This paper explores how the Australian health sector might improve opportunities for career development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers. It considers the current evidence surrounding career development in the health sector, along with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worker experiences, to develop a usable conceptual framework for change.
A Resource for Collective Healing for Members of the Stolen Generations: Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Effective Local Responses
The purpose of the resource is to: Strengthen and build upon the work already being done in the community by Stolen Generations members, organisations and groups to provide collective healing responses. Encourage the inclusion of collective healing responses in services provided to the Stolen Generations, including support groups, group therapy programs, day trips on country, […]
Trauma-informed services and trauma-specific care for Indigenous Australian children
This report provides comprehensive information on trauma in Indigenous Australian children. It examines the effects of trauma while also providing an overview of recent government initiatives implemented to address the negative consequences of trauma exposure in childhood and adulthood. The report also describes the delivery of trauma-informed services and trauma-specific care. Complementing the information in […]
Challenging hidden assumptions: colonial norms as determinants of Aboriginal mental health
This paper examines how mental health service research and discourse reflect such remnant colonial ideas and, as such, constitute a social determinant of mental health for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The paper is organized as follows. First, the methods used to gather information are briefly described. A second section looks at what areas research tends […]
Our healing, our solutions: Volume 3
In May 2010, the Healing Foundation announced its first funding initiative aimed at acknowledging and addressing the pain and hurt caused by colonisation, forced removals and other past government policies. The primary purpose of the healing initiatives was to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous people and communities, focusing on the wellbeing of […]
Mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal communities: The Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD) Experiences of Racism Survey,
We surveyed 755 Aboriginal Australians in four communities across Victoria in 2011. • Aboriginal people were asked about their background, experiences of racism and where they occurred, response strategies and the impact of racism on anxiety, mental distress (measured using the K5 scale for psychological distress) and behaviour and the impact of racism on their […]
Hear our voices: community consultattions for the development of an empowerment, healing and leadership program for Aboriginal people living in the Kimberley, Western Australia. Final Research Report
This research Project was initiated in response to the high number of suicides in the Kimberley, northern Western Australia over more than ten years, which sadly, has only worsened in the past 12 months. Between 1999 and 2006, there were 96 Aboriginal suicide deaths in the Kimberley, an average of one suicide per month over […]
Creating the NACCHO Cultural Safety Training Standards and Assessment Process: A background paper.
The purpose of this paper is to provide the CST Standards Committee and Industry Reference Group with an overview of issues relevant to Cultural Safety and Cultural Safety Training. This will help guide CST Standards Committee decisions on what the Standards and the CST training program assessment process should be, and the Industry Reference Group […]
Living on the edge: social and emotional wellbeing and risk and protective facots for serious psychological distress among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
This paper has been prepared by the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) to generate discussion around the determinants of Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB), and to provide a range of recommendations for addressing the current gap in social and emotional wellbeing between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.