Cultural Safety in Early Intervention
As well as our work with schools, Wingaru provides a range of cultural competency services to support businesses across a wide range of sectors, helping them to connect with and provide culturally safe service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Over the last twelve months, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of early intervention services that are reaching out for cultural guidance in the way they support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Figures Show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more likely to need early intervention services – such as speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy – than other children, and the gap between First Nations kids (24%) and non-Indigenous kids (10%) is significant.
There is widespread recognition of the correlation between how successful strategies are and the level of cultural safety within their delivery. Strategies that have proven to be more successful have a higher degree of cultural competency, provision for transport, are flexible in the way they deliver the service, and include genuine consultation with appropriate community members as programs are implemented. While this is not an easy balance to achieve, getting consultation right is a vital part of ensuring early intervention programs work and can be sustained.
Considering this, the number of early intervention specialists reaching out to see how they can best help their First Nations clients is reassuring. We need professionals working in the space who recognise the needs of our communities and who are willing to do the work to ensure their services are accessible, safe and engaging for our young ones. And we are increasingly collaborating with amazing individuals and services who are embracing ways of working that support the strong engagement of Aboriginal clients, their families and the broader First Nations community.
Many factors go into designing and delivering effective early-intervention strategies for children, young people and families in First Nations communities. As with anything that involves cultural sensitivity, it’s essential that you take it one step at a time.
Invest in quality training opportunities for your team that address cultural awareness, understanding and safety. Make sure you incorporate this as an ongoing part of your training program - cultural safety is not achieved through a ‘one-and-done’ approach.
Take time to connect with community by attending local events. This is vital. Get to know the leaders of your community and connect with people outside of your space. This will help you to get a feel for the best way to work with the broader community and help build their trust in you. Part of connecting is real consultation - ask your community what they want in a service. What inclusions would help them? How you deliver is just as important as what you deliver so don’t underestimate the benefit of any opportunity to have a yarn.
Make sure your space is inviting for mob. Have visual cues that tell First Nations people they are welcome - artwork, flags, and culturally safe resources all contribute to helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities feel comfortable in your space.
Include First Nations resources in your space. Finding suitable resources that children can relate to and see themselves in is important if you want kids to engage in your sessions. Both kids and parents will notice if you make the effort to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in the resources you have, and there are plenty of things being made by First Nations Australians that can be powerful tools in therapy and counselling. Check out some of Wingaru’s resources here.
At its heart, culturally safe service provision is a dedicated and continual commitment to working in ways that best support your clients. If those clients are First Nations Australians, it makes sense that the service you provide is properly tailored to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and includes resources that are reflective, inclusive and sensitive.
It takes time and commitment to build community trust and develop meaningful relationships beyond the four walls of your work, but the connections you make with First Nations communities will foster a deeper understanding and cultural sensitivity throughout your organisation.
