APS Areas for action

Read about the key areas for action identified as part of the APS RAP.

Self-reflection exercise

Don’t know where to start?  This self-reflection exercise may help you – it was developed by Reconciliation Australia and adapted for your use.

Acknowledgement of Country

Acknowledge or welcome? Information on how to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land.

Web resources

  • Reconciliation Australia
    www.reconciliation.org.au
    Read about Reconciliation Action Plans, find resources to help you participate, and read about the Australian  Reconciliation Barometer, which measures Australia’s progress towards Reconciliation.
  • Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association
    www.indigenouspsychology.com.au
    The national body representing Indigenous psychologists, AIPA works to increase the cultural competence of non-Indigenous psychologists and the number of Indigenous psychologists in Australia.
  • Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Services in Aboriginal Australia website
    www.sewbmh.org.au
    Information on meeting the needs of Indigenous Australians and their communities, with links to health services Australia-wide, examples of promising practice and a range of resources.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Psychology Interest Group www.groups.psychology.org.au/atsipp/
    The APS Interest Group, now more than two decades old and representing more than 220 APS member psychologists.
  • Share Our Pride
    http://shareourpride.org.au
    Reconciliation Australia’s website to provide an introduction to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
  • Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice
    www.ichr.uwa.edu.au/kulunga/working_together
    A free book for health practitioners produced by the Australian Council for Education Research and the Telethon Institute for Child Health’s Kulunga Research Network.  Downloadable in PDF form, the book examines the contexts that have shaped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing and provides examples of culturally specific clinical mental health assessment processes and culturally appropriate treatment interventions.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation
    www.healingfoundation.org.au
    An independent organisation supporting and promoting Indigenous healing through diverse programs throughout Australia.
  • Footprints in Time" (the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children)
    www.fahcsia.gov.au/lsic
    The study is guided by a Steering Committee chaired by Professor Mick Dodson AM, and aims to improve the understanding of, and policy response to, the diverse circumstances faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their families and communities. It is following the development of over 1500 children from 11 sites across Australia, including urban, regional and remote communities. There is close consultation with these communities, and much effort is put into conducting the study in a culturally appropriate manner. The study collects rich data on the children, their families and their communities, providing the first large-scale longitudinal data on the development of Indigenous children.

Do you have other suggestions for resources or sites that could assist APS members and other psychologists? Please let us know at reconciliation_aps@psychology.org.au