University of South Australia Cultural Awareness Survey

What is Cultural Awareness?

Simply put, cultural awareness means learning about cultures different from your own.

Culture includes how people communicate, their customs, beliefs, values, and the way they see the world. As Terry Cross and his colleagues explained in 1989, culture shapes how people think, talk, act, and live their daily lives.

Cultural awareness is just the first step. It's about gaining knowledge, but doesn't necessarily involve changing how you act or the services you provide.

Note: In this guide, we use terms like 'Aboriginal', 'First Nations' and 'Indigenous' to refer to people who identify as Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. We use 'peoples' and 'cultures' to show there are many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups.

How Cultural Awareness Fits with Other Important Concepts

Cultural Awareness

This is about knowing - learning about different cultures without necessarily changing your actions.

Cultural Competence

This is about doing - using your cultural knowledge to change how you behave and work with people from different cultures. It involves showing respect, building relationships based on give-and-take, and thinking about your own actions and assumptions.

Cultural Safety

This is about creating safe spaces - making sure services and environments respect cultural differences. The most important thing about cultural safety is that only the person receiving the service can decide if they feel culturally safe.

What Cultural Awareness Is NOT

Research shows that many people misunderstand cultural awareness:

• It's not just learning a few facts about another culture
• It's not seeing cultures as "exotic" or "different" compared to what's "normal"
• It's not something you can fully develop in a single day of training
• It's not about making everyone fit into the dominant culture

Common Problems with Cultural Awareness Training

Too Short and One-Time Only

Many researchers have found that brief workshops don't give people enough time to really learn or change how they think. As one researcher put it, "One-off workshops don't provide enough incentive for individuals to change their practice or reflect on their ideas."

Creating an "Us vs. Them" View

Sometimes training focuses too much on differences, which can make people see cultures as separate from each other. This can strengthen stereotypes instead of breaking them down.

Simplifying Complex Cultures

Many training programs reduce rich, diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures to simple summaries or stereotypes. This doesn't show the true depth and variety of these cultures.

Ignoring Power Differences

Training often doesn't address the effects of colonization or how racism continues to affect people today, both as individuals and within institutions like universities.

What Makes Good Cultural Awareness Training

Research shows that good cultural awareness training:

Centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voices

First Nations peoples should lead in creating and delivering cultural awareness content, not just have their experiences filtered through non-Indigenous perspectives.

Includes Colonial History

Understanding how colonization has affected and continues to affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples helps people better understand current challenges and strengths.

Encourages Self-Reflection

Good training helps people examine their own cultural background and biases before learning about others. It starts with recognizing we all have culture and assumptions.

Connects to Real Life

The most useful training includes topics like kinship systems, language, cultural protocols, and historical impacts that help people understand real situations they might encounter.

Builds on Itself Over Time

Learning about culture takes time. The best training happens over multiple sessions with opportunities to practice and reflect, not just in one workshop.

Moving from Awareness to Action

Cultural awareness is just the beginning. As researchers Westwood and Westwood explained in 2010, cultural competence involves a two-way learning process. This means:

1. First developing awareness (knowledge)
2. Then developing understanding (deeper learning)
3. Finally taking informed action (changing behaviour)

Why Your Survey Answers Matter

The University of South Australia is committed to developing cultural awareness training that actually works. Your responses to our survey will help us create training that:

• Is relevant to our university community
• Centers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
• Addresses both individual attitudes and university systems
• Builds lasting skills, not just one-time learning

Thank you for reading this guide. Now that you understand what cultural awareness is (and isn't), we welcome your thoughtful participation in our survey.

This guide is based on research by Cross et al. (1989), Papps & Ramsden (1996), Westwood & Westwood (2010), Kowal & Paradies et al. (2013), Parmenter & Trigger (2017), Sinclair (2017, 2020), Styres (2017), Taylor & Lalovic et al. (2019), and Rissel & Wilson (2022). >

Purpose of the Cultural Awareness Training Survey

This survey has been developed to inform the future design and delivery of cultural awareness training at the University of South Australia. Its primary purpose is to collect culturally informed, student- and staff-centered feedback that will shape how the university supports meaningful engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, histories, and communities.

Through this survey, UniSA aims to:

• Understand the needs, preferences, and expectations of different members of the university community (students, staff, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants) regarding cultural awareness.
• Ensure the training reflects real-world relevance, supports student and staff learning, and contributes to a culturally safe and inclusive university environment.
• Develop a responsive, scaffolded cultural awareness program that aligns with curriculum goals, graduate capabilities, and the university’s broader Reconciliation commitments.
• Gain insight into how cultural awareness can be embedded across disciplines, delivered in accessible formats, and assessed meaningfully.

What the Survey Asks

Participants will be asked to:

• Identify their role and relationship to the university to tailor the survey content.
• Share their perspectives on the purpose and importance of cultural awareness training.
• Rank and prioritise outcomes such as decolonisation, allyship, and culturally safe learning spaces.
• Provide input on how training should be integrated (e.g. through curriculum, onboarding, optional or mandatory models).
• Reflect on effective learning styles and preferred assessment types.
• Evaluate their current understanding of key cultural terms and concepts.
• Offer feedback on how training can be better designed to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
• Contribute ideas that will shape the development of long-term, culturally responsive training initiatives at UniSA.

This feedback will be instrumental in shaping a cultural awareness training model that is inclusive, educational, and impactful—empowering all students and staff to engage respectfully and meaningfully with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Why We’re Asking for Your Feedback

We’re working on designing a better cultural awareness training program at UniSA, and we want to hear from you.

This survey is about making sure that the training we create is meaningful, relevant, and respectful. Whether you’re a student, a staff member, or an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, your voice will help shape how we teach and learn about First Nations cultures, histories, and perspectives at the university.

What’s This Survey For?

The purpose of this survey is to:

• Get your honest thoughts about what cultural awareness training should look like.
• Understand how people from different roles at the uni—students, staff, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people—experience and think about cultural awareness.
• Find out how training can be useful in real life, not just as a tick-box activity.
• Make sure cultural awareness is built into learning in a way that actually helps people learn, grow, and act with respect.

What You’ll Be Asked

The survey will ask things like:

• Who you are and how you're connected to UniSA.
• What you think the goals of cultural awareness training should be.
• How the training should be delivered—through classes, online, as part of enrolment, or something else.
• What types of learning work best for you—videos, reading, group work, or hands-on activities.
• How much you already know about topics like colonisation, allyship, or First Nations cultures.
• What kind of assessments you think are fair and useful (like reflections, quizzes, or peer feedback).
• Any ideas you have—especially if you're an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student—on what you'd like to see in the training or elsewhere at UniSA.

How Your Input Will Be Used

Your feedback will help UniSA build a training program that:

• Is useful and respectful for everyone.
• Helps people understand the real impact of history and culture in everyday life.
• Supports a more inclusive, culturally safe environment at UniSA.
• Helps students and staff grow into stronger allies and more culturally aware professionals.

We’re not just collecting opinions—we’re using your input to make real change