Decolonial psychology: Academic and activist perspectives
This cutting-edge book re-imagines what a truly decolonial psychology could look like. It explores questions of what counts as psychological knowledge and whose knowledge is valid, and who controls the production of knowledge in psychology. This book builds on the expanding knowledge base in decolonial psychology to meaningfully address the varied social and psychological trajectories […]
wangii wadhan biyay–Baskets of Listening and Respect
This chapter offers a meeting place (ganma) between Indigenous Australian knowledges and Western psychological practice; a framework for respectful, inclusive praxis that honours deep-time realisations and decolonises psychology by critically examining Eurocentric dominance and oppression. wangii wadhan biyay (baskets of listening and respect, Dhurga language) offers seven baskets of knowledge layers that must be in […]
Embracing Social and Emotional Wellbeing Can Create Transformational Change in Psychology
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are one of the oldest continuous living cultures in the world, with knowledge systems that promote harmonious collective wellbeing. Colonialism, including the historical role of imposed Western knowledges such as psychology, disrupted these knowledges. This caused devastating effects to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Today, […]
The contribution of evidence-based practice and the practice-based evidence approaches to contemporary Australian psychology: implications for culturally safe practice
Psychological practice emphasises the importance of using the best available evidence to ensure accountability and promote positive outcomes for individuals and communities. These expectations are critical for community trust; however, without adequate consideration of broader processes of knowledge production, this focus can marginalise populations and perpetuate health inequities, such as those experienced by Aboriginal and […]
Decolonising tertiary psychology programs in Australia: privileging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ voices
Objective The Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Program has paved the way for Indigenising and decolonising psychology programs. While Indigenisation and decolonisation of psychology programs are not yet consistent, exemplar initiatives have emerged within recent times. This paper showcases these exemplars, providing details about the “how to” privilege Indigenous knowledges and decolonising practices. Method A qualitative […]
Decolonising tertiary psychology education in Australia: Processes, challenges and opportunities of curricula change
Australian psychology higher education and training has historically excluded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledge systems which has profoundly shaped the discipline, including its cultural responsiveness. Decolonising psychology education offers a systemic approach to improve education and practice, and, in turn, the cultural responsiveness of psychology. Decolonising psychology higher education has become a focal […]
AIPEP Learning Resource: Working Together and the Psychology Board of Australia Professional Competencies for Psychology – Competency 8 Resource Map
The AIPEP Learning Resources aims to support Ahpra registered psychologists build their capacity to meet Psychology Board of Australia’s Professional Competency 8: Demonstrates a health equity and human rights approach when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This online resource maps chapters from the Working Together (2014) textbook against the Psychology Board of […]
AIPEP Learning Resource: Psychology Board of Australia Professional Competencies for Psychology – Competency 8 Resource Map
The AIPEP Learning Resources aims to support Ahpra registered psychologists build their capacity to meet Psychology Board of Australia’s Professional Competency 8: Demonstrates a health equity and human rights approach when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This online resource maps a wide range of Indigenous-led publications against Competency 8 sub competencies. Readers will […]
Yarning sessions to facilitate cultural responsiveness and decolonising the curriculum in a university psychology setting
Psychology higher education providers play a critical role in growing a culturally safe psychology workforce by engaging in culturally responsive practices, embedding Indigenous perspectives and decolonising curricula. We describe yarning sessions that aimed to facilitate collective learning, reflexivity and decolonising praxis. They were led through relationship and governance from the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project […]
Indigenous psychology in Australia
Experiences of colonial oppression have had a profound and enduring effect on the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and communities throughout Australia and other indigenous nations globally. On almost every headline, indicator statistics show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fare worse than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Australian psychology has been implicated […]
Decolonising tertiary psychology student support in Australia: empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychology students
Objective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including psychologists, are actively leading and decolonising psychology. The focus of decolonising psychology is on epistemic justice for Indigenous knowledges and delivering culturally responsive services. Indigenous psychologists play a vital role in the decolonising process. Despite recommendations and initiatives aimed at decolonising psychology tertiary programs, such as increasing […]
Toward culturally responsive psychology higher education courses: psychologists’ perspectives on preparedness to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients
Background Psychology course regulatory standards for Australian universities have evolved in that universities are required to include cultural responsiveness in psychology curriculum and demonstrate graduate competencies for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. Aim This study aimed to explore psychologists’ perspectives about the higher education (HE) psychology curriculum in relation to their preparedness […]
Working Together in Psychology Higher Education
Dr. Stacey McMullen, Professor Monica Thielking, Professor Jeneva Ohan and Ms Belle Selkirk discussing the significance of the Working Together book in psychology higher education and how they’ve used it throughout their careers as educators and psychologists. This event was part of a series of webinars commemorating the tenth anniversary of the seminal text book, […]
Untying Settler-Colonial Knots in Australian Psychology
This reflexive paper is written from the positionality of an Indigenous psychologist in response to the majority-Australia vote against constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the National Referendum, October 14th, 2023. I utilise the Net Metaphor conceptual tool offered by Jongbloed, Hendry, Behn Smith, and Gallagher Kʷunuhmen to articulate settler-colonialism in […]
Decolonising psychology: Why voice matters
Pat Dudgeon, Australia’s first registered Indigenous psychologist, and her colleagues Dawn Darlaston-Jones and Joanna Alexi make the case for decolonising psychology and celebrate the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and learning into all Australian psychology curricula.
Decolonising psychology
Situated in the context of racism during the global COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, this article provides an overview of the ongoing efforts of Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) in decolonising the psychology education curriculum across Australia’s tertiary psychology programs. Good practice case studies of specific programs are provided, which […]
Decolonising Psychology – Part 1
In this two-part series, Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, Belle Selkirk and Dr Joanna Alexi (Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing) share their experiences of decolonising psychology and take listeners on a journey through the impactful work of the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP). Listeners are also recommended to read the corresponding factsheet: Psychology education […]
Psychology education needs to reflect the lives of aspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
To support aspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to engage in psychology education in Australia, psychology curricula and teaching and learning programs should reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldviews and lived experiences.
Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) – Curricular approaches to increasing cultural competence and Indigenous participation in psychology education and training
Dudgeon, P. (2019). Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AlPEP) – Curricular approaches to increasing cultural competence and Indigenous participation in psychology education and training. Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Grant, The University of Western Australia, Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. https://timhwb.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AIPEP-Final-Report.pdf
The Lancet Commission on Self-harm
This fact sheet provides a summary of the findings of The Lancet Commission on Self-harm (see: https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/self-harm)
Decolonising psychology: The Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project
Professor Pat Dudgeon and her UWA colleagues Belle Selkirk and Dr Joanna Alexi led a plenary session at APAC’s inaugural Community of Practice conference (October 30th, 2024).
Fact sheet: Professional competencies for psychologists. Understanding Competency 8: Demonstrates a health equity and human rights approach when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, families and communities
A review of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous Australian Peoples – considerations, challenges and opportunities
Self-determination in programmes of perinatal health for Aboriginal Communities: A systematic review
Objective The importance of self-determination in restoring the wellbeing of Australian First Nations peoples is becoming understood. For thousands of years, Aboriginal women gave birth on Country and Grandmothers’ Lore and Women’s Business facilitated the survival of the oldest living civilisations on earth. Following colonisation, however, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practices of maternal and […]
Aboriginal Practitioners’ Perspectives on Culturally Informed Practice for Trauma Healing in Australia
Colonisation continues to impact Aboriginal children and families through perpetual cycles of transgenerational trauma. To achieve culturally safe and effective healing, practitioners working with Aboriginal people must be culturally competent, yet existing research suggests culturally informed practice (CIP) is often poorly understood and implemented by many practitioners. Centring Indigenous perspectives, the present study explored how […]