Promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety

This document provides insights into the impact of early colonisation, practices used to segregate ATSI people, assimilation policies, strategies to promote cultural safety, and more.

CHCDIV002 Promote
Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander
cultural safety-
Assessment 1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
1.1 What was the overall impact of early colonisation on the ATSI people?.............................4
1.2 During the early years of settlement what practices were used to segregate and/or
remove/resettle ATSI people and communities?........................................................................4
1.3 What is meant by the term ‘assimilation’ in relation to ATSI people and how was the
policy of assimilation enacted?...................................................................................................4
2.1What does “cultural safety” mean?........................................................................................5
2.2 Provide a minimum of 5 strategies that can be used to promote a culturally safe
environment?...............................................................................................................................5
3 For the following two Quality Areas from the National Quality Standards, list two practices
that an educator could use in their work to assist in providing a culturally safe environment...5
Educational Program and Practice.............................................................................................5
Relationships with children.........................................................................................................5
4.1Describe your own sense of cultural identity, including any biases that might relate to
cultural identity and diversity......................................................................................................6
4.2 Explain how you could share this information with preschool or school-age children........6
4.3 What protocols did you use when seeking this information?...............................................6
5.1 Describe the impact of colonisation, historical events and issues on Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander people.......................................................................................................6
6 Describe in one to two paragraphs the impact, both historically and contemporarily, that the
following events/issues have had on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people:..............6
7 Locate the policies and procedures in your Service setting that deal with interactions with
children, in particular having regard to family and cultural values and participation in the
service.........................................................................................................................................8
Describe how these policies and procedures guide staff to interact and communicate with
families and children in a way that encourages diversity and respects cultural differences.......8

8 Imagine your community has a large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
What are some steps that your Service could take to make sure that your information is
culturally acceptable and easily understood by this community?...............................................8
9 Often people will generalise when talking about cultures – for example they might say that
because a child is Aboriginal it is likely to have particular traits as though all Aborigines are
the same. List at least 10 influences that will cause people within the same cultural
background to be different..........................................................................................................9
10 Provide two examples of when you have explored with children their culture, heritage,
background and/or tradition. Describe the interactions. Note: At least one of these examples
must relate to a child/children from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background. If
you have not had experience with a child of this background you will need to provide
examples of how they would explore their culture, heritage, background or tradition if given
the opportunity..........................................................................................................................10
11.1 What is a cultural broker?.................................................................................................10
11.2 Research your local area – who could you use as a cultural broker from your local
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community?..............................................................10
12.1 What is meant by “self-determination” and how might this relate to early education and
care services?............................................................................................................................10
12.2 What is meant by “community control”?..........................................................................10
13 Provide an example of when you have needed to advocate for anti-racism. Write one to
two paragraphs on how you did this.........................................................................................11
14 Describe what you do (or have done) to support children and families’ cross-cultural
relationships in an early childhood education and care service and community?....................11
15 Give examples of how you embed diversity and inclusion into your daily work practices,
and how you support children’s cultural identity......................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The 'Aborginal and Torres Strait Islander people' are also the first people of Australia or
the first Australians. They are the part of the indegineous Australians who lived in Australia
before the British colonisation. The ASTI people have their own customs and law which
determine their membership in the group (Purdie, Dudgeon and Walker, 2019). Their cultural
safety is as important as it means that there must be no assault, denial or the challenge in their
identity and the experience. Cultural safety is all about creating a safe environment for the ATSI.
This report shall cover answers to the following questions.
MAIN BODY
1.1 What was the overall impact of early colonisation on the ATSI people?
The major consequence of the colonisation on the ATSI people was the wave of epidemic
disease like smallpox, influenza and many other. The colonisation also brought discrimination
and racism which impacted the ATSI people's physical and mental well being.
1.2 During the early years of settlement what practices were used to segregate and/or
remove/resettle ATSI people and communities?
The practices used to segregate ATSI people includes-
 Kidnapping boys and girls to remove or segregate them.
 The girls and boys were taken away far from families and left at the mercy of those who
can possess them (Al-Yaman, Van Doeland and Wallis, 2016).
1.3 What is meant by the term ‘assimilation’ in relation to ATSI people and how was the policy
of assimilation enacted?
The assimilation means that the ATSI people are expected to live with other Australians
like a single community where they have same rights, customs and privilege as the Australians
have. In the year 1937, the commonwealth government held the conference to absorb and
assimilate the ATSI people in the wider population. Its aim was to destruct the aboriginal
society.

2.1What does “cultural safety” mean?
Cultural safety is about creating the environment which is safe for the ATSI people which
involves no assault, challenge and denial to identity and experience. It also includes shared
meaning, knowledge and respect so that ATSI people feel sense of belongingness,
2.2 Provide a minimum of 5 strategies that can be used to promote a culturally safe
environment?
The strategies to promote culturally safe environment must include-
 The health service organisations must create a welcoming environment for the ATSI
consumers by reviewing their design or layout of public spaces and delivering message
to explain how these health organisations work.
 There must be strategic and institutional reform to remove the barriers to optimal well-
being and health of the ATSI people.
 Sharing of resources and power which includes governance and decision making with the
Aboriginal community (Heffernan and et. al., 2015).
 Document and device ways which can support delivery of programs and service which
are culturally safe and also encourage participation.
 Integate those strategies which encourage community control and self determination in
the service and the program.
3 For the following two Quality Areas from the National Quality Standards, list two practices
that an educator could use in their work to assist in providing a culturally safe environment
Educational Program and Practice
The educator can use the following-
 assessment and planning where educator take planned and reflective approach for
implementing the program for each of the child.
 Child centric where each child's strength, current knowledge, culture, idea, interest and
ability are the foundations of a program (Douglas and Fitzgerald, 2018).
Relationships with children
Through these practices, the educator will be able to build a secure relationship with the
children and work on their strength and abilities for further development. These practices will
also help the educator to give safe environment to the children so that they can grow safely.

4.1Describe your own sense of cultural identity, including any biases that might relate to cultural
identity and diversity.
Cultural identity is a result of many conditions which include gender, race, nationality,
location, ethnicity, aesthetics and even religious beliefs. The biases are the natural part of own
upbringing. The biases which relate to cultural identity and diversity may involves ethical
concept of right or wrong, unintentional or intentional racial or ethnic bias, religious belief and
many other.
4.2 Explain how you could share this information with preschool or school-age children.
These information can be shared by the children by the medium of verbal communication
and imitating stories to them so that they can better understand the depthless of the cultural
identity and the biases which relate to it.
4.3 What protocols did you use when seeking this information?
While seeking this information, I used internet, books and journal to understand the
meaning of the cultural identity and the biases which relate to it (Nash, Meiklejohn and Sacre,
2016).
5.1 Describe the impact of colonisation, historical events and issues on Aboriginal and/or Torres
Strait Islander people
Colonisation has majorly resulted in racism, inequality and destruction of the ATSI
people and their culture. This also affected their health conditions by deteriorating their mental
and physical well-being. Since the period of colonisation, the ATSI people have experienced
hardships, loss of traditional culture and also denied the citizenship.
6 Describe in one to two paragraphs the impact, both historically and contemporarily, that the
following events/issues have had on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people:
British Colonisation
The major impact on ATSI people during the British colonisation was the wave of
epidemic diseases which included smallpox, influenza and even measles. This resulted in severe
health problems which affected their mental well being also.
Contemporarily, the impact of British colonisation on ASTSI people is the racism which
these people are still facing from the time of history. Direct and indirect both kind of

discrimination have been faced by ATSI community. For instance, denial to give interview, visit
people place and many other incidents are proof of racism (Thomas, Gray and McGinty, 2016).
Aboriginal Land Rights
Historically, the ATSI community was deprived of the land rights which was considered
as their culture and identity. They were dispossessed from their lands and forced into slave
labour. They were also denied their basic human rights during early colonisation. Australia
refused to give them land rights. In the contemporary world, in the year 1981, a ministry of
Aboriginal affairs was established which was tasked to draft the law on land rights and in the
year 1983, Aboriginal land rights came into force where they were allowed to control mining and
also negotiated compensation on their lost territory.
Stolen Generation
These are ATSI people, when they were kids, they were taken away from the families
due to past policies of the government. The children were also removed by churches, government
and welfare bodies and were brought in the institutions, fostered out and also adopted by the
white family. This impacted the lives and well being of ATSI people as they broke their
important family ties, culture and spiritual ties. Now, in the contemporary period, the National
Apology policy was enacted to apologise from the stolen generation which came as
recommendation from National inquiry. It highlighted the suffering of ATSI community.
Alcohol
Due to British colonisation, the ATSI people were dispossessed from their culture and
land which resulted in extreme consumption of alcohol by ATSI people. This affected their
health and risked their well being. But in contemporary time, the government has initiated
several policies and strategies to minimise the alcohol by addressing broad social determinants of
the harmful use of alcohol (Turner and et. al., 2019).
Disease
Since early colonisation, the ATSI people have suffered various diseases which includes
smallpox, measles and even influenza. Its impact was that it annihilated various indigenous
communities. This was due to land and water use system which was of high bad quality. In the
contemporary time, the government as took initiative by launching several programs which
provides primary health services, support to people suffering from chronic disease, maternal
health and many other.

7 Locate the policies and procedures in your Service setting that deal with interactions with
children, in particular having regard to family and cultural values and participation in the
service.
In the service setting, the educators use medical conditions policy where the service
setting set out practices relating to self administration of medication by the kids. Another policy
is relationship in groups to develop positive and respectful relationship for the educators and the
children.
Describe how these policies and procedures guide staff to interact and communicate with
families and children in a way that encourages diversity and respects cultural differences.
Policies and procedures helps the educators in providing the record of the accountability
which support the protection of the children, staff, families and the management. It also allows
clear communication so that cultural differences can be curbed down and a healthy relation is
built in the service setting which can ensure secure environment for all.
8 Imagine your community has a large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. What
are some steps that your Service could take to make sure that your information is culturally
acceptable and easily understood by this community?
In order to make sure that the information is culturally acceptable and understood by the
ATSI people, the service must ensure the following-
 The members of the ATSI community is involved in communication and planning and
implementing the services.
 The needs of the ATSI must be identified so that their confidence is won by the service
and they are able to understand the information of the service.
 The services must be delivered in such a way that their chnaging needs are fulfilled.
 Conduct services in the language which is understood by the ATSI community.
 The educator must involve and consult the family and community members in the service
deliver so that they can understand the information effectively.
 Invite elders in the programs so that they can participate in it (Kildea and et. al., 2019).

9 Often people will generalise when talking about cultures – for example they might say that
because a child is Aboriginal it is likely to have particular traits as though all Aborigines
are the same. List at least 10 influences that will cause people within the same cultural
background to be different.
The following are the factors which cause the people of the same background culture to
be different which includes-
 Social status- It means that one person holds a rank with different rights, lifestyle and
duties in a social hierarchy which is based on prestige and honour.
 Educational background- The education can be different of people which makes them
distant from others.
 Future goals- The people have different targets and goals in life which makes them
different from each other.
 Religion- A people may belong to different religion which makes theiir culture different
from one another.
 Age- It is also one such factor which differentiates between two individuals. They have
different mental capacity and abilities to understand the things.
 Behaviour- It also influence the people with the same background to be different as they
possess different qualities and abilities.
 Food- The food the people consume also differentiate them from the people of same
cultural background.
 Clothes- The way people dress up and carry them makes them different from others.
 Values- The morals and values which people hold of same culture may make them
different from others of same cultural background.
 Lifestyle- The way people life their life makes them culturally different from one
another.

10 Provide two examples of when you have explored with children their culture, heritage,
background and/or tradition. Describe the interactions. Note: At least one of these
examples must relate to a child/children from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
background. If you have not had experience with a child of this background you will need
to provide examples of how they would explore their culture, heritage, background or
tradition if given the opportunity.
The children if given an opportunity to explore the tradition or background may explore it
with the help of communication. It can communicate with its elders to know about their ancestral
history and the culture which is being followed from generations. The elders of ATSI community
will give them details regarding the culture, practices, traditions which are being followed by
them and will relate it with the importance it has in their lives.
11.1 What is a cultural broker?
It is defined as the person who facilitates a border crossing of other person or the group
from one culture to the other. It is basically an act of linking, bridging or mediating between the
people or groups of different cultures (Arabena, K., 2016).
11.2 Research your local area – who could you use as a cultural broker from your local
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community?
From the ATSI community, the elders can be culture broker who can teach the local
norms and customs to the people and have understanding of the views of the world.
12.1 What is meant by “self-determination” and how might this relate to early education and care
services?
Self determination is the person's ability to manage life and make choices. It helps in
allowing people to feel that they have a control on their life and choices. In context to early
education and care setting, it is an ability to control the destiny. It usually involves the
combination of ability and attitude which can lead the children to set their goals themselves and
initiative towards those goals in order to achieve them. These care settings may help children to
build such confidence that they cans et their own goals and achieve them.
12.2 What is meant by “community control”?
It is a severe form supervision in which the ATSI people have control over the ways in
which services is to be provided in their community.

13 Provide an example of when you have needed to advocate for anti-racism. Write one to two
paragraphs on how you did this.
Racism is a kind of discrimination which people often faces which may adversely affect
their mental and physical well being. The ATSI people have suffered a lot of racism in their lives
which have impacted their mental state and resulted in depression, and diseases. While studying
about them, I needed to become an advocate for anti racism. It is important to stop the practice of
racism and bring anti racism into the society so that there is equal and fair treatment for all. The
racist must be punished and be brought behind the bars for developing such practices. So it is
important to bring anti racism so that people feel safe and happy in the environment in order to
securely live in the society.
14 Describe what you do (or have done) to support children and families’ cross-cultural
relationships in an early childhood education and care service and community?
In the care service and community, the educators have actively listened to the families
and have incorporated the input in the early learning environment in order to acknowledge the
culture of children and families. This communication is done through verbal and written form in
order to know their culture (Dang and et. al., 2016).
15 Give examples of how you embed diversity and inclusion into your daily work practices, and
how you support children’s cultural identity.
Examples for embedding diversity and inclusion in work practice may include
establishment of sense of belongingness for everyone so that people engagement is encouraged.
The fear must be minimised and joy must be maximised so that people feel motivated to bring
greater potential for the positive change.
The cultural identity of the children can be supported by pre planning cultural days and
organising activities of different countries and places to promote different culture. The children
must be taught that everyone is equal and discrimination on nay ground must be prohibited.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that ATSI people have suffered a lot after the
colonisation. They have suffered serious health issues which have deteriorated their health in
both physical and mental manner. The culture of the ATSI have also been diminished after
colonisation so it is important to have culture safety so that they can live their live with equality
and fairness.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Yaman, F., Van Doeland, M. and Wallis, M., 2016. Family violence among Aboriginal and
torres strait islander peoples (p. 53). Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare.
Arabena, K., 2016. Preachers, policies and power: the reproductive health of adolescent
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. Health Promotion Journal of
Australia, 17(2), pp.85-90.
Dang and et. al., 2016. Improving the participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students in business education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and
Management, 38(1), pp.19-38.
Douglas, H. and Fitzgerald, R., 2018. The domestic violence protection order system as entry to
the criminal justice system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 7(3), p.41.
Heffernan and et. al., 2015. PTSD among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in
custody in Australia: prevalence and correlates. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28(6),
pp.523-530.
Kildea and et. al., 2019. Implementing birthing on country services for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander families: RISE framework. Women and Birth, 32(5), pp.466-475.
Nash, R., Meiklejohn, B. and Sacre, S., 2006. The Yapunyah project: embedding Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the nursing curriculum. Contemporary
Nurse, 22(2), pp.296-316.
Purdie, N., Dudgeon, P. and Walker, R., 2019. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice. Commonwealth of
Australia.
Thomas, Y., Gray, M. and McGinty, S., 2019. Occupational therapy at the ‘cultural interface’:
lessons from research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Australian
Occupational Therapy Journal, 58(1), pp.11-16.
Turner and et. al., 2019. Conceptualizing the association between community participation and
CQI in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PHC services. Qualitative health
research, 29(13), pp.1904-1915.