Decolonizing Social Work in Australia
Finding our relatedness stories: Psychology and Indigenous Healing Practice
Towards cultural competence: Australian Indigenous content in undergraduate psychology
This paper discusses the development and preliminary analysis of psychology undergraduate courses on cultural competence in relation to Indigenous Australians. The paper summarises the process that led to the formation of draft curriculum guidelines for psychology academics, including the need to critically examine the assumptions and history of Western psychology in relation to Indigenous peoples, […]
Liyarn Ngarn
Documentary by singer songwriter Archie Roach, the late Pete Postlethwaite and Aboriginal elder Patrick Dodson. (Out of print but available from libraries) Duration: 70 mins
Foucault, psychology and the analytics of power
Despite that many of the later writings of Michel Foucault speak directly to the subject of psychology, the discipline has yet to absorb the full impact of his critical analyses. Foucault’s importance in this respect is at least twofold: he develops a powerful critique of the uses of psychological knowledge and practice in modern disciplinary […]
Indigenous Identity in Contemporary Psychology: Dilemmas, Developments, Directions
What is psychology’s place in relation to Indigenous Australian people? How do we ensure Indigenous Australians have a voice within psychology? How do I interact competently with Indigenous Australians? Thought-provoking, interactive and practical, Indigenous Identity in Contemporary Psychology: Dilemmas, Developments, Directions explores a range of issues surrounding the establishment, development and maintenance of connections between […]
Towards a culturally appropriate mental health research process for Indigenous Australians
The aim of this paper is to consider culturally appropriate research methodologies for working with Indigenous Australians and to suggest some alternatives. The emphasis is on developing culturally sensitive approaches that are not culturally offensive or continue a colonial mentality (Smith, 1999). Historically, Australian Aboriginal cultures have been one of the most researched in the […]
Decolonisation: A critical step for improving Aboriginal health
Aboriginal health continues to be in crisis in Australia although expenditure has increased in service provision, strategic planning, research and policy development over the last thirty years. This paper recommends that a shift must occur to make Aboriginal health improvement a reality. This shift requires the decolonising of Aboriginal health so that the experts in […]
Kanyini
Bob Randall, a member of Yankunytjatjara people and one of the listed traditional owners of Uluru, explains the principle of connectedness through caring and responsibility that informs all aspects of Aboriginal life. Duration: 53 mins
Exploration of Australian and New Zealand indigenous people’s spirituality and mental health
Background: Spirituality has been defined as an overarching construct that involves personal beliefs or values that provide a sense of meaning and unity with self, people, nature and universe. Spirituality may be experienced within or outside formal religion. At least in English-speaking countries, therapists reported discussing spiritual issues with service users more frequently than before. […]
Examining discourses of whiteness and the potential for reconciliation
Western psychotherapeutic practice: engaging Aboriginal people in culturally appropriate and respectful ways
Until recently the majority of psychologists in Australia have been confronted by the lack of information relating to culturally appropriate methods of engagement and therapy with Aboriginal clients. Findings from a qualitative study undertaken in Western Australia indicated that Aboriginal conceptualisations of mental health appear more holistic and contain elements that are both cultural and […]
Guest Editorial: Engagement of Indigenous clients in mental health services: What role do cultural differences play?
Trauma trails, recreating song lines: the transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia
Providing a startling answer to the questions of how to solve the problems of generational trauma, Trauma Trails moves beyond the rhetoric of victimhood, and provides inspiration for anyone concerned about Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities today. Beginning with issues of colonial dispossession, Judy Atkinson also sensitively deals with trauma caused by abuse, alcoholism, and drug […]
Strong and Smart: the story of Chris Sarra and the Cherbourg State School
Tells the story of the rise of the Cherbourg State School from a situation of aimless despair and chaos to an institution with a sense of purpose, direction and unity. The film shows the turn-around in the school’s fortunes over the last 4 years, since the arrival of a dynamic new teaching staff led by […]
“Why should i feel guilty?”: Reflections on the workings of guilt in white-Aboriginal relations
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 […]
Psychology and reconciliation: Australian perspectives
Australia is engaged in the process of reconciliation. In this paper we argue that psychology has a key role to play in the process, and outline a position on psychology and reconciliation. We begin with and overview of reconciliation and by identifying the some of the factors that have impeded psychology’s involvement with Indigenous people. […]
Unresolved grief and the removal of Indigenous Australian children
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, […]
Reconciliation 2
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.
The construction of Aboriginal identity in people separated from their families, community, and culture: Pieces of a jigsaw
Aboriginal history since colonisation has been largely shaped by government policies. The most striking and destructive historical policies directed at Aboriginal people concerned those that advocated the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents and their placement in white foster homes or institutions. This paper reports on interviews with seven Indigenous participants who had been […]
Incorporating Indigenous and crosscultural issues into an undergraduate psychology course: experience at Curtin University of Technology
There has been a clear expression of the need to incorporate Indigenous and crosscultural issues into psychology curricula and to develop models to guide the process. This paper outlines the process of developing an Indigenous and crosscultural psychology unit at Curtin University of Technology. A conceptual framework that includes foundational, professional, and socially responsive knowledge, […]
Towards guidelines for survey research in remote Aboriginal communities
Based on our experience in developing and evaluating community-based health promotion programs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, we offer guidelines to assist nonindigenous health and public policy professionals whose information gathering in these communities includes the use of unstructured interviewing or survey questionnaires. The guidelines primarily apply to research among mainland remote Aboriginal […]
Bringing Them Home: National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families
This report is a tribute to the strength and struggles of many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by forcible removal. We acknowledge the hardships they endured and the sacrifices they made. We remember and lament all the children who will never come home. We dedicate this report with thanks and admiration […]
Blood Brothers – Broken English
Arrernte man Max Stuart was sentenced to death in 1959 for murder but, nearly 35 years later, he talks about the case on camera. Film Australia. Duration: 60 mins
Benny and the Dreamers (1992)
A small group of Pintupi living in west Central Australia today can remember their first meeting with a white man, their first impressions of the white man’s world and their expectations of what the white world had to offer. Benny and the Dreamers reveals for the first time on film the Australian Aboriginal peoples’ version […]