Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

• There are large disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians across a number of health outcomes and social and emotional wellbeing domains. These disparities include higher rates of psychological distress, chronic disease, suicide and incarceration.
• An understanding of Australia's historical background is essential to understanding the present day challenges to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including the enduring and pervasive effects of colonisation.
• A large number of factors affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's wellbeing, including discrimination and racism, social exclusion, economic disadvantage, incarceration, grief and loss, child removals and unresolved trauma, family violence, substance use and physical health problems¹.
• The APS ethical guidelines for the provision of psychological services for, and the conduct of research with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (4.1) state that psychologists should be sensitive to both cultural and contextual factors associated with Indigenous mental health, and social and emotional wellbeing, when providing psychological services to Indigenous clients.
• Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander understanding of social and emotional wellbeing is a multifaceted and holistic concept. It acknowledges that a person’s wellbeing is determined by a range of inter-related domains: body, mind and emotions, family and kinship, community, culture, Country, and spirituality².

• Bringing together the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) and other peak psychology organisations to take a firm stance against racism in any form, with the Black Lives Matter: Psychologists take a stand against racism position statement. In this position statement, psychologists are standing together to call out and combat racism in the profession, the discipline and communities across Australia.
• Establishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Psychology Interest Group.
• Developing and implementing the APS Reconciliation Action Plan.
• Making a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, acknowledging psychology’s role in contributing to the erosion of their culture and mistreatment.³
• Publishing special issues of Australian Psychologist on Indigenous psychology.
• Helping to develop the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP)
• Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychology students through the Bendi Lango bursary.
• Co-facilitating the National Roundtable on Racism towards Indigenous Australians (2009) from which The Boatshed Racism Roundtable Declaration was signed.
• Working in partnership with Stolen Generations Victoria on the Partnerships in Healing project. A project involving a two-way exchange between the non-Indigenous counsellors and Bringing Them Home support workers to develop culturally responsive counselling services to members of the Stolen Generations.
• Becoming a key development partner of KidsMatter, which has developed a large catalogue of resources to support the social and emotional wellbeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
• Working to address and prevent racism.
• Supporting psychologists to promote equity and the protection of people’s human rights.

1. Dudgeon, P., Bray, A., D'Costa, B. and Walker, R. (2017), Decolonising Psychology: Validating Social and Emotional Wellbeing. Aust Psychol, 52: 316–325. doi:10.1111/ap.12294

2. Zubrick, S. R., Dudgeon, P., Gee, G., Glaskin, B., Kelly, K., Paradies, Y., ... & Walker, R. (2010). Social determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing.Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice, 75-90.

3. Carey, T. A., Dudgeon, P., Hammond, S. W., Hirvonen, T., Kyrios, M., Roufeil, L. and Smith, P. (2017), The Australian Psychological Society's Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Aust Psychol, 52: 261–267. doi:10.1111/ap.12300