Cultural Safety and Wellbeing: Evidence review

Supporting the wellbeing of Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities through the delivery of culturally safe services is critically important for achieving positive outcomes for clients. Lack of cultural safety, racism and fear are the main barriers to accessing essential services.

Gamarada Universal Indigenous Resources Pty Ltd and the Social Policy Research Centre conducted an evidence review to identify activities, practices or principles that ensure the cultural safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities in early intervention services.

The evidence review included four types of evidence across the health and human services sector:

• Cultural safety and wellbeing frameworks;
• Practice guides and related information;
• Programs, practices or activities developed to ensure the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, families and communities; and
• Research studies published in academic or industry journals.

The review identified six critical elements that are common across the evidence:

• Recognising the importance of culture;
• Self-determination;
• Workforce development;
• Whole of organisation approach;
• Leadership and partnership;
• Research, monitoring and evaluation.

See the Evidence to Action Note: Cultural Safety and Wellbeing (PDF , 407.9 KB), for more information about the evidence review.

For more details about how the evidence review was conducted (e.g. search strings, databases searched) see the Cultural Safety and Wellbeing Evidence Review Search Strategy (PDF , 317.6 KB).