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Media Release

July 10 2007

Psychologists must build Indigenous cultural competence

The Commonwealth government’s recent intervention in remote Indigenous communities of the Northern Territory has raised important issues regarding Indigenous health and community development. It has also highlighted a great need to improve the cultural competence of practising psychologists working with Indigenous Australians.

University of South Australia’s senior lecturer in psychology, Dr Rob Ranzijn believes gaining an understanding of the psychological impacts of colonisation, racism and the policies that have led to Indigenous disadvantage is vital for practising psychologists and other mental health workers.

“That understanding is vital if mental health practitioners are to contribute to the development of effective and sustainable solutions that strengthen Indigenous culture, rather than destroy it,” he says.

These issues are a focus for the inaugural conference Psychology and Indigenous Australians: Effective Teaching and Practice being hosted by UniSA on July 12 and 13, and the Cultural Competence and Psychology Workshop on July 14 and 15 at UniSA’s City West campus.

The conference will include presentations by three keynote speakers Professor Judy Atkinson, Dennis McDermott and Dr Tracy Westerman, and a diverse range of other speakers. Panel discussions cover advances in teaching cultural competence and effective practice with Indigenous people and communities, and their theoretical underpinnings.

Professor Judy Atkinson is Head, College of Indigenous Australian Peoples (Southern Cross University) and Director, Collaborative Indigenous Research Centre for Learning and Educare; Dennis McDermott is a Koori psychologist and senior lecturer in Indigenous health at the University of New South Wales; and Dr Tracy Westerman is founding Managing Director of Indigenous Psychological Services, and is the only Aboriginal person in Australia to have earned a PhD in clinical psychology.

Dr Ranzijn believes the conference will lead to increased understanding. “This is an important step in building a national and international network of individuals and organisations striving for social justice and cultural competency,” he says.

Dr Ranzijn is the co-leader of the Psychology and Indigenous Australians team and convenor of the conference. He leads the Carrick Institute project, Disseminating strategies for incorporating Australian Indigenous content into psychology undergraduate programs throughout Australia.

The conference is being sponsored by the UniSA, Interest Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Psychology and the Australian Psychological Society, with support from the Carrick Institute for learning and teaching in higher education.

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