The Intersection of Trauma, Racism, and Cultural Competence in Effective Work with Aboriginal People: Waiting for Trust

Abstract

The consistent failure of initiatives aimed at addressing discrepancies between Australia's Aboriginal and non Aboriginal citizens point to a need to address responses to Aboriginal people by mainstream service providers. This practice paper draws on the experience of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal practitioners in the trauma field to consider the limitations and potential of “cultural competence” as a construct for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Key limitations are the lack of accounting for the trauma and ongoing racism experienced by Aboriginal people, which result in isolation of communities, protection of abusers, and under-use of mainstream services by Aboriginal people. When trauma and racism are addressed, successful and respectful engagement with Aboriginal individuals and communities becomes possible and the potential of cultural competency initiatives can be realised. A three-step process for achieving this at the personal, practice, and agency levels, which has been developed in a collaboration by Aboriginal and non Aboriginal practitioners, is outlined.

Keywords:

• Indigenous Social Work
• Indigenous Child Protection
• Culture
• Culturally Competent Social Work
• Trauma
• Indigenous Knowledge

Acknowledgements

A number of Aboriginal trainers with the Education Centre Against Violence contributed to the ideas presented here. Pam Greer, Melva Kennedy, Karen Menzies, Mareese Terare, Catherine Clarke, Kelly Ramsden, and the Aboriginal Communities Matter Advisory Committee, which provides direction on Education Centre Against Violence courses and programs.