Dedicated Indigenous mental health plan needed to close the wellbeing gap

In marking this year’s Close the Gap Day, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) says a plan dedicated to closing the mental health gap between Indigenous and other Australians is needed to address high rates of psychological distress, suicide and self-harm prevalent in Indigenous communities.

APS President Professor Mike Kyrios says that there needs to be a bipartisan, long-term commitment to a dedicated Indigenous mental health action plan.

The APS supports the six-point plan proposed by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership in Mental Health (NATSILMH) group which includes:

• Recognising the mental health gap as a priority in Indigenous Affairs,
• Development of a dedicated plan to close the Indigenous mental health gap,
• Reinvestment from hospital-based treatments to community-based, culturally appropriate services and prevention programs,
• Services delivered through community-based Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services,
• Support for Indigenous Australians to transition across the mental health system, and
• Governments to work in partnership with Indigenous mental health leaders and experts.

30% of Indigenous Australians reported very high levels of psychological distress in 2012 to 2013, a rate three-times higher than for other Australians, and between 2000 and 2010, the suicide rate among Indigenous Australians was twice that of other Australians.

Leading Aboriginal psychologist and Chair of the NATSILMH, Professor Pat Dudgeon FAPS, believes building social and emotional wellbeing is critical to improving Indigenous mental health.

“Identity, culture, relationships to land, family and community are great sources of resilience to Indigenous Australians,” she says. “They help stem the impact of racism, entrenched poverty and disadvantage, which underpin poor Indigenous mental health.”

Professor Dudgeon says there is a need for more community-based culturally appropriate mental health services that include strengthening culture and identity.

“These should be developed in consultation with Indigenous leaders and delivered by culturally competent health professionals,” she says.

Professors Dudgeon and Kyrios, who co-chair the APS Indigenous Psychology Advisory Group, state that the APS is absolutely committed to developing strategies to help increase the number of Indigenous psychologists, as well as facilitating policies that will impact on professional skills, the health and the mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.