Dale Rowland is the 2020 recipient of the APS Bendi Lango bursary.
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Dale Rowland is a proud Biripi and Wiradjuri man who despite living away from country has been active within the Koombumerri community on the Gold Coast. From 2013 to 2019 Dale worked within the Indigenous Student Support Unit at Griffith University, supporting both Indigenous university students, and Indigenous high school students. Dale has completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours), a Graduate Certificate in Health Professional Education and is currently in the Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology program.
During his studies Dale has been active within the local community and has worked in partnership and collaboration with elders, local health services, community forums, schools, and key services. Dale has volunteered extensively in the community at key events such as NAIDOC (the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience, and local mental health services to name a few. Dale continues to advocate on behalf of his people, and actively participates and contributes to supporting the community.
Dale is engaged with the APS both on the Gold Coast Branch, the Indigenous Psychology Advisory Group (IPAG) committee and the Advisory Council. Dale is planning his clinical placements to be hosted by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. Dale plans to contribute to the evidence-base surrounding best practice when working with, and for, Indigenous communities. Given his research background, Dale is actively working towards tailoring digital mental health services to community members. Upon completion of his PhD Dale intends to work with communities to co-develop digital mental health interventions for the social and emotional wellbeing.
The APS bursary is funded through generous donations from APS members. Since the launch of the Bendi Lango initiative in 2006, eleven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have been supported in their postgraduate psychology studies.
More about the Bendi Lango initiative, including previous bursary recipients and how to make an online donation.