Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety

This report examines strategies for promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety, focusing on a case study involving Community Linkup. It addresses engagement strategies, ways to increase participation in services, and methods for encouraging self-determination and community ...Read More

Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres
Strait Islander Cultural Safety

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Engagement strategies.............................................................................................................3
2. Ways of increasing participation in the services of the organisation.......................................3
3. Strategies for encouraging self-determination and community control programs and services
......................................................................................................................................................4
4. Ensuring the effective partnerships with Torres Strait and Aboriginal Islander individuals
and communities..........................................................................................................................5
5. Resources required for promoting partnership........................................................................5
6.Strategies for improving communication and respectful relationships between Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islanders and service providers...............................................................................6
7. Evaluation of work practices and how cultural safety is integrated at work place..................7
8. Reflection.................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Cultural diversity refers the quality of diverse or various cultures which are opposes to
mono-cultures, cultural diversity exists in every nation across the world. Cultural diversity can
be challenging some times and can even result in the negative impact. Present report discusses
about the case study on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture which has been adapted
dramatically to accommodate all of that which have been introduced since 1788 in Australia.
This report also discusses about the Community Linkup which is a community based
organisation are facing the issues with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders which were not
happy with the opening ceremony of the company. This report also includes the strategies and
ways of increasing the participation of Islander in the service.
MAIN BODY
1. Engagement strategies
The CEO of the company need or formulate a proper strategies for engaging the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within the planning and delivery of the service. One of the
major strategy is that the CEO should properly understand the proper culture of Islanders and
should try to gain relevant and appropriate cultural education which can help CEO to understand
the people better. Also, organisation should try to set an effective communication system with
them and should ask them reason for not being happy with company's approach. Also, CEO
should try make them understand what the company is about and how does it serve for the
human cause (Bolliger and Martin, 2018). By making them familiar with services which will be
offered by Linkup company it will motivate them to get engaged in delivering the service. These
strategies can be measure by the rise in number of participants form Islander in delivering the
service and the efforts which they put in serving the entire community. Also, it can be measured
if Islander voluntarily start working with company and are happy in delivering the noble service
to people. It can aslo be measured by ensuring that there is high attendance from seniors of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. When there is the active participation from the people of
Islander it will result in the success of strategies for engaging the Islanders.
2. Ways of increasing participation in the services of the organisation
There are ways of increasing the participation of Islanders within the service of the
organisation some of them are mentioned below:

 CEO of the company should try to increase the Aboriginal and Torres Strait community's
participation in all most all activities of which are organised by the organisation.
 CEO of the company should try to get directly engaged with Aboriginal and Torres staff
in order to increase their participation and should ask various queries if they face any
problem from the organisation (Evans, 2016).
 Organisation should develop dynamic as well as flexible strategies in order to increase
the participation from the Islanders, with the flexible strategies company can make
adjustments and change the strategies as per the situation in order to increase the
participation.
 Also, proper information is delivered and proper coordination should be set by avoiding
duplications.
 Company should try to increase the local communication strategies and should effective
communication system with them which will sure increase their participation in the
services which are offered by the organisation.
 Company should ensure that more integrated service delivery with joint planning of
services as well as programs at local, regional and state levels.
 Community Linkup organisation can make use of interactive capabilities as well as social
media tools like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by focusing on the engagement of
inclusive of different language groups which are spoken within different communities.
3. Strategies for encouraging self-determination and community control programs and services
Self-determination can be defined as combination of skill as well as knowledge and
beliefs which enable a person to engage in a particular task or activity. Following are the
strategies which can be used for increasing the self-determination of the people are:
 Setting of personal goals, which is the best way of increasing self determination.
 Allowing the people to participate in the decisions which have have a strong impact on
the quality of life of person who serves others and a person who is being serviced.
 Solving the problems which acts as barriers in achieving the goals.
 Supporting people to make appropriate choices which should based on people's personal
choices and interests.
For facilitating the community control programs and services following are the strategies
which are to be followed:

 Facilitating the community ownership as well as the control.
 Establishment of partnerships based on trust (Dudgeon and et.al., 2017).
 Enhancing the existing capabilities as well as capacities of the community and capacity
of the leaders too.
 Also, by using various community development approaches which can result in effective
service programs.
 Also, good governance should be implemented for offering effective service programs.
4. Ensuring the effective partnerships with Torres Strait and Aboriginal Islander individuals and
communities
In order to ensure the effective partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders it
is essential to work in partnerships for which it is essential for the company to acknowledge all
the problems which are faced by individuals as well by communities and formulate better
strategies to address these problems (Duff and et.al ., 2018). Also, company should understand
the cultural obligations of the community for this company need to speak and listen well. In
order to build strong relationships company should attend local events and visit Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander organisations and leaders which can help in building a strong relationship
with individuals and community. Also, in order to build strong relationship there should be
mutual respect and respect the values and beliefs of individuals and communities (Enhancing
the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle,
2015). One of the best way to build a strong relationship company should treat everyone as an
individual and should be aware of the cultural differences which are present in communities. By
understanding the cultural differences will help the organisation to formulate the plan for serving
individuals and communities in effective manner. In order to build effective partners company
should work collaboratively with government which can help in serving the individuals and
communities. As government also plays significant role in building partnerships with individuals
and communities through their policies and procedures.
5. Resources required for promoting partnership
There are various resources which can be required for promoting effective partnership
and it is crucial for the workers. For communities and individuals resources should be light on
text and should be of more graphics as a key of message. There which are to be used can be
booklets, DVDs or videos, flip charts or interactive components. There which are used should be

easily understandable as well as user friendly which can easily shared and saved. Also, resources
should be easily customised for the local population and if possible use local language and
images for the local people (Warner and Sullivan, 2017). Also, the resources should be such that
it should prevent the cultural sensitivity and should be developed by taking cultural consideration
in concern. Also, the information which is provided should be of high quality and should be
gathered from the authentic sources which will help in promoting effective partnership. Also, the
time and money should be provided enough so that it should not hinder the access of the
resources for the clients. Sufficient amount of resources like internet and social media should be
used which will increase accessibility of the resources so that can get information from the
different resources which will help in promoting effective partnership with individuals and
communities.
6.Strategies for improving communication and respectful relationships between Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islanders and service providers.
In order to build a respectful and improve the communication between Islanders and
service providers following are the strategies which are to be followed:
Communication strategies:
Clear language: The language in which the communication should be made should be clear and
service providers should try to avoid confusing statements.
Multiple channels: Service providers should use multiple channel of communication in order to
communicate with people. Also, right of medium should be chosen as well which can help in
targeting the right audience (Durey and et.al., 2017). The channels can be websites, TV, social
media, videos, etc.
Relevant Voices: Service providers should use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in
order to demonstrate the relevant success stories and should encourage locals to their stores as
through communication channels which will improve the communication process.
Strategies for respectful relationships:
Gender-specific elements: Service providers should be aware of gender-specific elements
which needs to be considered for various cultural reasons.
Cultural Considerations: Service provider should take culture in to consideration and should
avoid hurting sentiments or beliefs of Islanders. Organisations should try to respect their culture
in which they live or dwell in.

Encourage helping: Service providers should develop helping nature in them and should help
the people if they are not asking for it. It will develop a sense of respect and value for a person.
7. Evaluation of work practices and how cultural safety is integrated at work place
There are various practices which are performed during the work, it includes the ethical
practices where guideline are provided how to conduct work ethically. Service provider have to
meet the needs of the individuals and communities where guidelines are provided about the
provisions of services and supports (Loeppke and et.al., 2015). Also, service worker has to
maintain the confidentiality within the workplace and should comply with all guidelines and
legislation which provide the confidentiality as well as privacy of the service users, employers
and even colleagues.
In order to integrate cultural safety following strategies are followed by the organisation
in order to enhance safe culture in the organisation:
 Work place have a clear, open and free and respectful communication process.
 Proper trust and work ethics are maintained within the workplace.
 Employees understand each other's cultural values and beliefs.
 People are always available to get engaged with each other in a two-way dialogue which
involves sharing of knowledge and problems. It has helped in developing a trust among
the employees and strengthening the relationship between employees which belong to
different cultures.
8. Reflection
My work practice has always been supportive and of helping nature I, have been able to
understand others culture in work practice which has helped in developing a strong and
respectful relationship with others in work place. My culture has been such it been able to bridge
the communication gap between me and others in the organisation as good communication skills
is the key for dealing with different cultures in the organisation. I, have been practising good
manners by showing a good manner you show respect and dignity to others in the work place.
My fellow employees also show good culture in work practices even they pay attention to
cultural differences in work and they provide support who ever needs in during work. They have
been always working by maintaining work culture of the company and have been always freely
communicating with each other which has helped in minimising the cultural differences in entire

company. There is a huge cultural diversity within the organisation but we have been developing
an organisational culture in such a way it has decreased the cultural differences in the workplace.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the report that for any organisation it is important to take
cultural diversity into consideration and proper strategies should be formulated and planning
should be done in order to minimise the cultural differences. It can also be concluded from the
report that service provide should try to increase the participation of employees in services and
strategies should be formulated encourage self-determination and proper communication system
should be developed. Present report also concludes that it is important for the organisation to
maintain the cultural safety of employees and should try to minimise cultural barriers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bolliger, D. U. and Martin, F., 2018. Instructor and student perceptions of online student
engagement strategies. Distance Education. 39(4). pp.568-583.
Dudgeon, P and et.al., 2017. Facilitating empowerment and self-determination through
participatory action research: Findings from the National Empowerment
Project. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 16(1). p.1609406917699515.
Duff, D and et.al ., 2018. A partnership approach to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples with clinical guideline development for chronic kidney disease. Renal Society of
Australasia Journal. 14(3). p.84.
Durey, A and et.al., 2017. Does one workshop on respecting cultural differences increase health
professionals’ confidence to improve the care of Australian Aboriginal patients with
cancer? An evaluation. BMC health services research. 17(1). p.660.
Evans, T., 2016. Professional discretion in welfare services: Beyond street-level bureaucracy.
Routledge.
Loeppke, R. R and et.al., 2015. Integrating health and safety in the workplace: how closely
aligning health and safety strategies can yield measurable benefits. Journal of
occupational and environmental medicine. 57(5). pp.585-597.
Warner, M. and Sullivan, R. eds., 2017. Putting partnerships to work: Strategic alliances for
development between government, the private sector and civil society. Routledge.
Online
Enhancing the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement
Principle. 2015. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/enhancing-implementation-aboriginal-and-torres-
strait-islander-child/strategies>.