JCPSLP Vol 19 No 1 March 2017

Minimising power differentials The families were intimidated by the power and authority that mainstream workers demonstrated in the playgroup. SLPs are typically familiar with minimising power differentials arising from the professional/client relationship as this principle underpins much of our work within primary health care and family-centred practice. When a non-Indigenous SLP first meets an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, there already exists a predetermined relationship accompanied by a deep history based on the process of colonisation within Australia (Westerman, 2004). It is extremely important for non-Indigenous SLPs to listen to what Australia’s First Peoples tell us about how the imbalance of power arising from colonisation directly and strongly impacts them and their health and well-being. Transference of power can be a very difficult process for non-Indigenous professionals to undertake. In addition, SLPs may genuinely feel they are achieving this important aspect of implementing culturally safe practice when those Aboriginal peoples with whom they are working may continue to be feeling “overseen” or evaluated or judged. Engaging in ongoing reflective practice, learning from Aboriginal colleagues, is the best way for SLPs to truly learn how protective of their professional or white colonial power they really may be in practice. SLPs can learn to trust in a more culturally safe process which, in the way we do for all peoples, honours the truth that people know their own situation the best and they know their own culture the best. What can be perceived as a service-delivery barrier by a non-Indigenous SLP can often be resolved through prioritising and embodying the respect required to have faith in Aboriginal knowledges and understandings of their own families and communities. Effective communication I did not immediately become one of the mob. I appeared as a stranger to them. I was treated with wariness for a long time, until they saw I was there to help the kids without judging or devaluing them. “You [white people] say things two ways; one thing with your mouth, and another with your eyes” (Gould, 2015, p. 8). SLPs are very familiar with the power communication plays in everyday life. Taking meaning and understandings directly from stories presented to SLPs to assist our learning ensures that this learning is not lost through the layers of analysis, analysis that may be being conducted cross-culturally, that typically accompanies literature discussing Aboriginal perspectives and knowledges (Sandri, In press; 2013). Learning what is otherwise hidden within the myth of white elitism is often only discovered through conversing directly with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples themselves. Robyn’s story illustrates how effective communication can break down barriers, build relationships and facilitate reconciliation and personal healing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must decide how their lives are to be discussed, when and by whom. Prioritising for the future Non-Indigenous SLPs can learn about culturally safe practice. What is really needed, however, is the involvement within the Australian workforce of SLPs who do not need to

be taught this thing called culturally safe practice. Australia needs more SLPs for whom working within culturally safe ways with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is simply an extension of who they are every day, in the same way that white Australian SLPs currently work day in day out without too much conscious thought needing to be given to cultural differences and sensitivities. Once again, it is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples themselves who are determining ways of ensuring this occurs. Dr Faye McMillan (2016), Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) chairperson, stated in response to the historic apology by the Australian Psychology Society to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (APS, 2016) that “IAHA encourages other allied health professions to take the lead of psychology, and to engage in some critical reflection around the impact of their interventions on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples” to ensure “a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people control what is important to them rather than having this controlled by others.” Prioritising First Peoples’ voices through working within culturally safe ways can go a long way towards ensuring that this vision comes to fruition. References Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2016). Indigenous health . Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/ australias-health/2014/indigenous-health/ Australian Medical Association (AMA). (2007). 2007 Report card: Institutionalised inequity – Not just a matter of money . Retrieved from https://ama.com.au/article/2007- ama-indigenous-health-report-card-institutionalised- inequity-not-just-matter-money Australian Psychological Society (APS). (2016). Media statement Thursday 15th September: Australian psychological society apologises to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Australians . Retrieved from https://www.psychology.org.au/news/media_ releases/15September2016/ Braveman, P., & Gruskin, S. (2003). Theory and methods: Defining equity in health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health , 57 , 254–258. Commonwealth of Australia. (2012). Our land, our languages: Language learning in Indigenous communities . Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Author. Dowing, R., Kowal, E., & Paradies, Y. (2011). Indigenous cultural training for health workers in Australia. International Journal for Quality in Healthcare , 23 (3), 247–257. Durey, A. (2010). Reducing racism in Aboriginal health care in Australia: Where does cultural education fit? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health , 24 (1), 87–92. Gould, J. (1999). An evaluation of assessment instruments in the measurement of the spoken communication skills of rural Aboriginal children (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Australian National University, ACT. Gould, J. (2009). The interaction between developmental assessment, deficit thinking and home language in the education of Aboriginal children (Unpublished PhD thesis). University of South Australia, SA. Gould, J. (2015). Solid Foundations assessment series manual . Murray Bridge, SA: Solid Foundations. Malin, M. A. (2003). Is schooling good for Indigenous children’s health? Occasional Paper Series No. 8. Darwin,

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 1 2017

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