Northern AHPACC Consortium Partners Improving employment opportunities for Aboriginal workers in mainstream community health services Aboriginal Readiness Checklist Project Report 19 September 2012 1 Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 3 Existing Achievements and Commitments ......................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 7 1.2 Project Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.2.1 Interviews with Key Stakeholders ..................................................................................... 8 1.2.2 Consultation Question Guides .......................................................................................... 8 1.2.3 Project Limitations ............................................................................................................. 9 2 Readiness Checklists ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Aboriginal Cultural Competency Checklist ................................................................................. 10 2.2 Aboriginal Recruitment and Employment Checklist ................................................................... 12 3 Setting up the workplace .................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Key Characteristics of a Culturally Competent Service Provider ............................................... 14 4 Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training Programs ............................................................................ 16 5 Partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations ................................................... 18 6 Engaging with the Aboriginal Community........................................................................................... 22 6.1 Key Issue: Building Trust ............................................................................................................ 22 6.2 Key Issue 2: Time Frames ......................................................................................................... 22 6.3 Key Issue 3: Understanding Aboriginal Ways ............................................................................ 22 6.4 Key Issue 4: Identifying the correct Aboriginal stakeholders/partners ....................................... 23 6.5 Key Issue 5: Time is Money ....................................................................................................... 23 6.6 Key Issue 6: Terminology ........................................................................................................... 23 6.7 Key Issue 7: Partnerships and Project Management ................................................................. 23 7 Demonstrating Aboriginal Cultural Competence ................................................................................ 24 7.1 Attracting, Recruiting and Selecting Aboriginal employees ....................................................... 24 7.3 Aboriginal Specific Policies ........................................................................................................ 25 7.2 Supporting Aboriginal Staff......................................................................................................... 26 7.4 Creating a Welcoming Environment ........................................................................................... 27 7.5 Promoting AHPACC Consortium services to the Aboriginal Community ................................... 28 8 Definitions and Terms ......................................................................................................................... 29 8.1 Key terms used in the Aboriginal Services Sector ..................................................................... 29 8.1.1 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 29 8.1.2 Definitions ....................................................................................................................... 29 References ............................................................................................................................................ 31 GLOSSARY OF TERMS Aboriginal The term Aboriginal is used in this document when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultural heritage issues, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and specific reports and documentation issued by the Victorian Government. Indigenous When used in this document, the term Indigenous refers to references used in published reports and other relevant documents. It is not used to describe Aboriginal people. Koorie/Koori A term generally used to describe Aboriginal inhabitants of south-east Australia. 2 Executive Summary The best quality care and assessment processes are designed around the unique and complete needs of the individual. It is recognised and acknowledged that people from a particular cultural or ethnic group are very different from one another. Values, opinions, family structures and cultural practices differ. A primary aim of the Aboriginal Health Promotion and Chronic Care Partnership between Community Health Services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations is to provide culturally appropriate services for all Aboriginal clients by having in place: direct care staff, professionals and administrators with appropriate skills, knowledge and attitudes; practices that are proven to be effective with people from culturally diverse backgrounds; and organisation policies, administrative procedures and management practices designed to ensure access to culturally appropriate services and competent personnel. This is a whole of system philosophy where the aim is to enhance the capacity of all services to respond to their local communities. It is understood that achieving cultural competence is a continuous development process for all services. Culture and communication are central issues which lie at the heart of care and the provision of services to all clients. Many Aboriginal people enjoy life outside the service system within a cultural and social context. It is widely acknowledged that services should complement a person’s life experiences and choices and also be respectful of their ‘usual’ life activities. Information gathered during the consultations as part of this project confirmed that all stakeholders want to ensure their programs, services and systems accommodate the specific cultural perspective of Aboriginal people. They also wish to: ensure there is consistency in program and service delivery processes for Victorian Aboriginal clients; ensure staff engaging with Aboriginal clients understand and consider Aboriginal cultural practices and issues improve the number of referrals and assessments of Aboriginal people to ensure their ratio matches the close the gap target population and that data captured in relation to Aboriginal clients is accurate; strengthen partnership, referral, case conferencing and working arrangements with Aboriginal services which also includes having Aboriginal specific policies in place; and increase employment opportunities for Aboriginal people to take up a career in the Community Health Services sector. Key Messages Cultural competence needs to be built over time, not overnight. Cultural competence relies on respectful partnerships with Aboriginal organisations. Cultural competence requires a whole-of-agency approach and strong and committed leadership at all levels. Cultural competence requires personal and organisational reflection. Aboriginal people should be offered the choice of having an Aboriginal staff member present during the assessment. Ensure a two way feedback process with HACC assessors and Aboriginal staff and community members. Cultural competence is a continual journey. It was evident that the Aboriginal cultural knowledge of many stakeholders consulted was very limited in particular their awareness of the local history and the various Aboriginal groups in each community in the region. Although Aboriginal cultural awareness training sessions have been provided for staff of the Northern AHPACC Consortium partner organisations, the focus group sessions and stakeholders consulted advised that Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training was something they needed to follow up on so they were in a much stronger position to engage effectively with Aboriginal workers, clients, communities and services in the region. 3 Existing Achievements and Commitments It was very clear from the beginning of this project that the Northern AHPACC Consortium partners have implemented a number of specific actions to improve the client experiences of Aboriginal people who present at their organisations. It was noted that these have occurred as a result of ongoing