The RANZCP’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Committee includes Indigenous psychiatrists, non-Indigenous psychiatrists who work closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, and Indigenous community members who work in mental health service provision and policy development.

Its Ethical Guideline 11, Principles and Guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health (revised 2014), applies to all psychiatrist members and expresses a progressive, holistic understanding of Indigenous people’s mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. The guidelines acknowledge the continuing effects of historical trauma, and cultural respect – including for Indigenous health practitioners and traditional healers as colleagues and equals. They urge psychiatrists to fight systemic racism and, at an individual level, to accommodate Indigenous people’s cultural and language needs in the context of clinical consultations by seeking out Indigenous collaborators and advisors. They include the following statements:

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain socially and economically disadvantaged and continue to experience the historical legacy of colonisation and the destruction of their culture.”

“Mental health professionals within Australia have been slow to respond to the social and clinical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the response has often been from a biomedical perspective ignoring the important cultural, social and historical context of their communities. Such a perspective fails to take into account of the strengths and resilience of cultures and populations.”

“It cannot be assumed that the ethical and clinical models derived from a western individualistic viewpoint can be automatically applied to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and communities. Nor should we assume we have a mandate to automatically apply such models.”

“it is important that the practice of psychiatry instils awareness and acknowledgement of the psychiatrist’s own cultural assumptions … particularly given the asymmetry of power that is often amplified in interactions between mental health professionals and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

RANZCP’s Position paper: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers (August 2016) was developed “in response to a general sense of frustration with often inappropriate utilisation or consultation with, as well as the lack of recognition of the value and skills of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers by other professionals and managers in health services.” Consistent with Ethical Guideline 11 (above), the position paper offers guidance for psychiatrists and the broader mental health sector in working respectfully with Indigenous mental health workers. It also calls for appropriate inclusion of their expertise in clinical teams, the creation of appropriate career paths, and pay equity.