Clinicians & Front-line Workers
Resources for Clinicians & Front-line Workforces
Clinicians, including psychologists, psychiatrists, emergency medicine specialists, GPs and nurses, have important roles to play in supporting the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and in preventing suicide.
Other front-line workers who provide services to Indigenous people can also make essential contributions. Social workers, youth workers, and any staff who support community programs and services, need to understand how Indigenous people may exhibit distress and how to respond to individuals, families and whole communities.
For some professionals, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s mental health and social and emotional wellbeing will be part of their education, training and supervision. For many others, their development in these domains will occur in the workplace, with limited formal oversight.
All workforces need to understand how to work with Indigenous people in a culturally responsive and safe way that supports positive and trusting relationships.
This section of the Manual includes resources that apply in all these situations.
Resources
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This fact sheet describes the four elements of the community-wide reliance model – fire, water, land and air – and how they relate to spirit, purpose, belonging, identity, hope, healing and meaning. Source: Northern Territory PHN
This evaluation framework is based on the principles described in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP). It is designed to evaluate suicide prevention activities that are already underway, and to provide guidance around evaluation while in the planning stages. Note: This 2017 resource is under review Source: Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention
Krista, a mum and active community member, talks about how parents can advocate and seek help for a child who is struggling. Source: Desert Pea Media/WNSWPHN
iBobbly is a social and emotional wellbeing self-help app for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over. Using iBobbly for six weeks has been shown to reduce depression, distress and suicidal thinking. Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and co-designed with young people in the Kimberley, the app helps people to recognise troubling thoughts and responses, and apply more positive thinking and behaviours. Source: Black Dog Institute
The Healing Foundation launched Stories from community: How suicide rates fell in two Indigenous communities at the Second National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference in Perth on 21 November 18. The stories captured from the communities of Yarrabah and the Tiwi Islands demonstrate the power of community control and self-determination. The two case studies presented explore the dramatic fall in suicide rates across both communities, from the high rates they experienced in the 1990s.
One hour e-learning course for practitioners who work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities. It has been developed with the support and guidance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to develop the knowledge and skills required to support families’ resilience. Source: Emerging Minds
Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Principles and Practice
This resources describes how past traumas can have a lasting effect on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including new generations. Source: Trauma & Grief Network
Policies & Position Statements
From Clinical and Peak Groups
This section of the Manual outlines the policies and positions of key groups in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s mental health and social and emotional wellbeing, highlights the commitments of these groups to improving outcomes for Indigenous people, and describes the expectations on their members.
Professional bodies and sector peak organisations have a strong influence on how their members practise. This is true at an individual level, in terms of professional standards and continuing professional development. It also applies at an organisational level, as service providers influence and are influenced by the collective decisions of peak groups.
Australia has multiple Indigenous organisations which focus holistically on the health, mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and/or on the education and employment of Indigenous people in health professions.
Mainstream clinical professional representative organisations may be less focused on and/or less capable in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The intersection between clinical and cultural support may sometimes be a particular challenge for mainstream clinicians.
Published policies and positions with regard to the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from both groups are summarised here.
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National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy
Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention leadership body. It is governed and controlled by Indigenous experts and peak bodies working in these areas, promoting collective excellence in mental health care.
The Coalition of Peaks is made up of more than 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak and member organisations across Australia that have come together as an act of self-determination to work with Australian governments on a new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, agreed in 2020.
The LIME Network advocates for improved teaching and learning about Indigenous health in medical schools, as well as for best practice in the recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students and trainees.
AIDA is the national body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors and medical students. It promotes population parity of Indigenous medical students and doctors, as a means of achieving a culturally safe healthcare system and equitable health and life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
CATSINaM is the peak advocacy body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in Australia.
NACCHO represents the Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation (ACCHO) sector, which offers primary health-care to Indigenous communities across Australia
Coroner's Court Resources
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