Understanding Cultural Safety For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders

What is Cultural Safety?

What does the term ‘cultural safety’ mean in your industry?

Cultural safety is for those people who accept services for their own safety and it embraces all people for all nations. This service provision is based on profound professionalism, cultural competence, mutual respect and accepting the diversity. The cultural safety is an agreement and understanding that is accepted and shared by all parties. The health care and service provision are available for the entire culturally diverse group and by cultural safety; health care is accessible to all. Interrupting the unequal power relations, cultural safety provides historical, social and political context of health care.

Health professionals identified that the cultural safety becomes the main obstacle for accessing health care of the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. A culturally safe environment provides safety for the people where there is no challenge, denial or assault of their identity.

What are some things you can, or already do, which ensure your service is culturally competent and aware? (List 3)

• Service, which we provide is culturally safe and aware, as this service wants to develop trust among the service providers and accepters.
• In this service, the communication is respectful, free and open and there should not be any stereotypical barriers. 

• The dialogue and interaction of the service is two ways; where shared knowledge is the primary focus. 

1. List 3 relevant legislation and polices that relate to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, 2003 sated the effective recognition, conservation and protection of the cultural heritage of the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
• Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003 provides the successful recognition, conservation and protection of the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage.
• Family Responsibilities Commission Act 2008 states that helping people in reforming community areas that would take responsibilities for the well being of aboriginal communities. 

1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is one of the most diverse in the world. List 3 points that contribute to the diversity of the culture.

• The aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander had 600 different clans during the time of  the arrival of the European, though, currently many of these clans are extinct. These 600 clan groups have distinctive believes and cultures.
• Different groups have different and unique body of knowledge, which is based on specific environment.
• The different aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders clans have different laws. The language of these groups is different from each other’s. Hundred of languages and dialects exist among the groups. 

1. Use your notes together with your own research to answer the following questions related to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander culture and history.

(Hint: You must perform research and should state all sources)

1. Briefly describe two impacts of European Settlement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• Almost 100,000 children of the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people were removed from their families by the European settlers in between 1910 to 1970. The children mostly were under five years of age. These children were forcibly separated by the white welfare officers or police from their family. There were hardly any legislative processes behind this separation. In fact, the aboriginals rarely understand the process that is involved.  The main impact of the European settlers is that it started abolishing the aboriginal culture, heritage and tradition by stealing the children. As children were the only medium for carrying the heritage and culture of the one generation to the next of the aboriginals.
• Aboriginal deaths in custody were one of the impacts of the Europeans’ arrival. Many aboriginalsdied in the custody after being arrested by the white police. These deaths became one of the concerns of the aboriginal communities. The reasons of these deaths were directly or indirectly due to the prison authority or police.

1. In what way did European settlement impact on the loss of land and culture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?

The European settlers forced off the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders from their traditional lands. Their lifestyle was deeply rooted with the lands. Some aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders tried to resist from capturing their lands and violence were the inevitable result cast upon them by the settlers. The land acquisition had taken place in such a way that after hundred years from the first European arrival, aboriginals had fewer lands in the continent than the British. However, in 1788, when the Europeans first arrived, the aborigines were the sole occupants of entire Australia.

Many aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders were forced to move to the missions and reserves, where they could not speak in their languages and practice their own culture.  The children of the aboriginals were removed from their own family and they had lost their culture and identity. It was expected that they would adopt the dress code, religion, languages and cultural values of the Europeans.

1. How has racism and discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people been impacted by European settlement of Australia?

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders lived in Australia almost 40,000 years before the arrival of the European settlers. However, when the white people came into the land they started to discriminate between themselves and the indigenous people. The European settlers became the ruler of the land, which originally belonged to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.  The laws and rights of full citizenship had been restricted based on the race. The indigenous people did not have citizenship rights and this is due to racism and discrimination existed in Terra Nullius, which was the accused land by the Europeans. 

Barriers to Accessing Healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

1. What is the difference between western power relations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relations?

In the power relation, the Europeans thought themselves as the superior to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, these people were regarded as inferior or situated in the lower position in power structure. In 1770, James Cook announced and claimed the east coast of Australia in the name of the United Kingdom. The Europeans started to take over the land from the aboriginal people, which traditionally belonged to them. Even aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their family by the British Europeans as the white rulers wanted to establish their own culture and abolish the traditions and culture prevalent among the aboriginals. The European people acted violently and forced the aboriginals to follow their rules.

1. Complete the table below to compare western structures and comment on how the differences impact on the engagement of services

Western structure	Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander structure	Considerations / impact on service delivery
Documentation of everything The European documentation process was by writing history. The history was written to document the important events in the western culture and civilization in chronological orders. Sometimes lives of kings or political leaders were written in history.	The aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander society believed in oral documentation of the data or information. They did not have any written documentation method like British. One of the documenting processes of the aboriginals could be rock art and bark painting. In these processes the people drew their dream sequences or regular life experience in order to document.	The service provider needs to consider the oral mode of communication. The indigenous people transferred their culture and tradition by oral transmission. Therefore, in this process, an important part of their culture could be lost and they could face the crisis in their cultural identity.
Blood relation family structure In western family structure, mother played an important role to nurture the child and they share their duty and responsibilities with the father of the child. The family structure generally is nuclear. The civil society in west acts as the developer of the individual faculties of children.	On the other hand, the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders had very complex system of family relation. In this system, themembers knew their kin and their land.  The family structure is extended and these extended family relations are core of the aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders’ kinship system. Through the extended family relations, culture was passed on.	The service provider should acknowledge the extended family system of the indigenous people and respect the value and cultural system of the indigenous population.
Ownership of belongings Generally, the ownership of belongings is passed in hereditary order. Generally, it passed from husband to wife to children. The belongings are passed through wills in the legislative structure.	The belongings were not only for any separate family; rather it was for the whole community. The culture and traditions were passed from one generation to another by storytelling traditions.	The service provider should acknowledge the mode of transmission of the indigenous people and respect the value and cultural system of the indigenous population.
Set up and created cities and towns Individual focus The industrial revolution led to set up the cities. From the late 18th century, the growth of the modern industry, influenced in massive urbanization, which eventually led to the rise of the new great cities. The rise of the individual in building great business industry at the time of industrial revolution had also influenced to rise new urban structure as powerful individual started to live lavishly and cope up with the contemporary technology.	The Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders were the hunter-gather groups lived in different places. They did not have any concept of cities and towns. Even, they did not have the concept of land ownership. The individual is connected with the community in kinship method and it defined the position of a person in the community. The kinship system decided the amount of land an individual would own according to how he or she was connected.	The service provider should acknowledge the family system of the indigenous people and respect the value and cultural system of the indigenous population.

Trauma is one problem affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s wellbeing. Briefly describe how this and 3 more factors contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ill health.

Trauma was caused in the aboriginals through the historical and ongoing disposition. The trauma is internalised by the aboriginals and that resulted in psychological distress and the destructive behavioural patterns. Racism and marginalization were other causes of the trauma of the aboriginal people and that resulted in the ill mental health of the aboriginals. The unresolved trauma has caused other problems in the community, which includes family violence, alcohol and drug abuse and inadequate as well as overcrowded housing.  Drug and alcohol abuse is another aspect that contributes directly to the mental illness of the aboriginals.

The rate of family violence in Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is very high and it creates a higher level of risks to the safety and well being of the aboriginals. According to National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, one in eight Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders aged 15 years or more have experienced physical violence in last twelve months.

When you are providing a service to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, what are some questions you could consider when starting to establish partnerships and ensuring cultural safety?

What is the process to ensure the meaningful development of the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia?

What is the process of delivering appropriate and effective services to the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders?

What are the major factors to facilitate effective participation, control and access for the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders?

What strategies could you use to invite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to assist with advising on culturally safe practices?

Ways to Ensure Cultural Competence in Service Provision

Programs can be arranged for the purpose of cultural safety of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders to create awareness.  The cultural safety issue cannot be avoided and it must be addressed. Unsafe cultural practices demean, disempower and diminish the cultural identity and the well being of individual community. The service provider needs to establish trustful relationship with the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders’ community members through respectful communication as past experience of unsafe cultural practices of the service providers has created distrust among the indigenous people. Relationship between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal aspects should be based on acceptance of the cultural diversity. In order to establish culturally safe practices, all stuffs, including the aboriginal and non-aboriginal should respect the values and customs of each other.

What are some strategies that enhance the ability to be culturally safe in the work place?

The strategies that enhance the ability to be culturally safe in the workplace include respecting about ‘others’ culture by understanding about one’s own culture. There should not be any challenge, denial or assault faced by the aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders. One needs to listen truly and share the knowledge, meaning and experience with the other by developing trust. One needs to identify and therefore neglect the stereotypical barriers. It is important to ensure a culturally safe environment in the workplace by establishing clear, open and respectful communication. 

How do you/or could you, model cultural safety in your workplace?

In my workplace, members including the aboriginals and the non-aboriginals should engage in respectful communication. In order to establish this, stereotypical thoughts should be removed from the mind of both groups. Service providers need to comprehend the process of the cultural identity of the aboriginals. The educators need to understand their own culture and situate it in the context of cultural diversity.

What examples have you used or could you use to engage Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander people in order to provide interpreter services or act as a cultural broker?

English is not the first language for many indigenous people. It is second, third or fourth language for many indigenous people. It is seen that by the Aboriginal Legal service that one out of five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face difficulties in communicating or understanding the language of the service provider, which is English. Here, for communication purpose, it is important to have an interpreter who could communicate what the service provider say to the Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders.

Differences Between Western and Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Structures

Describe 3 cultural norms you have that are different to other cultures. Justify your answers.

As non-aboriginals in Australia, the cultural norms dictate to be modest and down to earth. However, on the other hand, eye contact becomes very important, which in many circumstances, become impolite or disrespectful.  Australian culture recognizes them as a multi-cultural society, which has accepted the faiths and believes of the others. In many other cultures, diversity in culture is not welcoming whereas Australians has started to define them as a multi-faith and multi-cultural society.

Identify any cultural issues that might be present in the scenario below. In your response, describe how you would communicate and handle the situation.

You are at a community meeting discussing a proposal for new services in the area. You have given 3 different ideas but the indigenous people in the room haven’t given you any feedback or real response at all. You start to think they don’t care but it was them who wanted the meeting.

The cultural issue that is present in the mentioned scenario is that lack of communication or communication barriers due to cultural differences. The service provider needs to build up a trustful and respectful communication system with the aboriginal people in Australia. He or she should not carry any stereotypical barriers about the aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders. The cultural difference should be acknowledged by the service provider and he or she should situate himself or herself in the context of cultural diversity present in Australia.

Use the headings below to discuss some of the ways you can improve communication and partnerships between staff, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and their communities.

Environment

A culturally safe environment is the environment where people feel safe about their culture. The communication and partnership could be improved by promoting effective and respectful communication between the indigenous people and service provider.

All the indigenous people in Australia should access resources. However, it was terminated by the Europeans and imposed restrictions for accessing the natural resources. The service providers should include elders and other community members who can provide information about the need of the community. 

Services and programs need to be arranged to provide cultural safety to the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. The programs should involve the particular aboriginal initiatives and employ aboriginal staff to understand the need and issues of the community.

Why is it important to involve Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the evaluation of cultural safety strategies? In your answer, state who else could be included in this process.

In the evaluation of cultural safety strategies, it is important to involve the aboriginals and Torres Strait islander people as they could easily understand and communicate the need and issues of their community. The community members should be an important part in the evaluation group of the cultural safety programs. They easily comprehend the situation and culture of the aboriginals and Torres Strait islander.

What are some evaluation strategies? Describe at least 3.

The evaluation strategies include constant reviewing and discussing strategies for the cultural safety of the aboriginal people to keep them relevant all the time. 

It is important that the service provider evaluate the outcomes of the strategies, and accordingly, it is necessary to build new strategies, redesign those ideas and apply it to the communities.

Service providers should ask them the questions to examine the work practices and evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of health and education programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.