CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety

13 Aug 2020

CHCDIV002

Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety

Task 1 Knowledge Evidence

Explain what is meant by the following terms:

Cultural Awareness
Cultural Competence
Cultural Safety

What long term impacts did events such as the forced removal of children and massacres have on Indigenous society?

(a) Describe the long term impacts the forcible removal of children had on mothers who had children removed.

(b) Describe the long term impacts the forcible removal of children had on the children who were removed from the family unit.

How might these events impact on you as a child care worker?

List three (3) strategies that could be used to effectively promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s feeling of cultural safety in a Child Care service.

Why is it difficult to provide a standard solution to interpreter services across the whole of Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?

Give the name and address of two (2) of the Aboriginal Language Centres and/or Aboriginal Interpreting Services in WA.

Describe two cultural obligations that an Indigenous staff member may need to deal with.

Identify the two (2) main pieces of Legislation relevant to your role working with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and give an example of how it impacts on your actions as an early childhood educator.

Documents	Link to your actions as an educator
Title:
Title:

Identify the Inclusion Support Agency (ISA) provider in your suburb and list five ways this provider/body could support you if an indigenous family attended your service.

Inclusion Support Agency (ISA) Provider:

List and explain three differences that could exist between various/different indigenous cultures.

List three factors that contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health problems:

Why is it important for child carers to be aware of their own cultural influences when working effectively with families of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background?

Give an example of each of the following and explain how each of the issues effect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:

Type of Issue	Effect on Aboriginal and Torres Islander People
Social Issue:
Political Issue:
Economic Issue:

Task 2 Scenarios

Read this passage and answer the following questions:

Scenario 1 Mary Murray is an Aboriginal woman who has three children in the child care service (Sammy, a 5year old boy; Jenny, a 4-year-old girl and Jacky, a 3-year-old girl). She lives in the town with her husband Jackson and is part of a wider extended family. Jenny has been running in the play area and has fallen and hurt her wrist. The coordinator has called the ambulance as she thinks the wrist could be broken. While the ambulance officers were trying to attend to Jenny, her brother Sammy was standing near them and using some strong language – screaming at them that they can’t take her in the ambulance. Jenny is also hysterical and refusing to let the ambulance staff assist her. The little sister Jacky has run inside the center and is in one of the toilet cubicles crying hysterically. The ambulance officers eventually calm Jenny and get her into the ambulance. Meanwhile, the coordinator has called Mary and advised her of the incident and asked her to come and collect both the children who are extremely upset. Mary arrives with her husband, her mother and two of her sisters and the coordinator greets them in the car park next to the ambulance. Mary explains that the children’s grandmother has been talking a lot at home about the stolen generation and last time an ambulance was called, the children’s cousin had been taken away due to a drug overdose and died in hospital. Jenny saw the ambulance take the cousin away but was very young and not aware of the circumstances. When Mary’s mother moves to go collect the other children, the coordinator asks her to wait as Mary or her husband are the only ones authorized to take the children from the center. Mary’s mother becomes agitated and quite upset at this.

1. Identify two (2) significant cultural issues from the scenario.

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2. Explain the actions of Sammy based on your understanding of the cultural issues.

Sammy was standing near ambulance and using some strong language – screaming at ambulance officers so that they can’t take his sister in the ambulance. He was concern about his sister’s safety as he didn’t trust the medical staff.

3. Give a possible cultural explanation as to why Mary’s mother became upset.

Few days back when the children’s cousin had overdose of drug, he was taken to hospital in an ambulance. But he died because of drug overdose. This has created a mindset in Mary’s mother that anyone gets in ambulance doesn’t come back. Also, she has memories about stolen generation & keeps talking about it at home.

4. What could the center’s staff done to help calm Jacky?

Staff should remain calm, talk very sweetly & politely and convince Jacky that they are taking her sister to hospital & will bring back soon. They should also cuddle her & divert her attention by playing with her OR doing things/activities she likes the most.

Scenario 2 Gary Murray is a young Aboriginal man who has 3 children enrolled in the Lady Bird Early Learning service and 1 at a local primary school. He has an extended family in the town and is often in the service offering to run special sessions for all the children who attend and the staff. They have been attending regularly for the past six months but recently hadn’t attended for two weeks. Gary hadn’t advised the service that his children wouldn’t be attending and the children were missing for almost a week. You tried calling Gary’s phone but had no answer. You had contacted the school but they were not able to give any help when they were approached for information and none of the other children knew what had happened to Gary and the children. When Gary returned the following week, he tells you that they had gone to the country for “Sorry Business”. The staff appeared very angry with him and one of them has come to you to complain. She begins by saying, “How are we supposed to plan activities for these kids, no wonder they’re so dumb and can’t do anything”. Before you can explain the circumstances, she says “This happens all the time, does he thinks that it’s okay to go on walkabout whenever he feels like it? These people are all the same, they’re totally unreliable and he’s not even a real Aborigine”.

What could you say and do to raise staff awareness of the cultural issues involved?

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What behaviour or comments by the staff member could be seen as racist? How could you raise this with the staff member?

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What actions could the service incorporate into its practices to support and involve Gary’s family?

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Because of the upset, the coordinator of the service asks you to help in evaluating the current perception of cultural safety and developing some cultural safety strategies for implementing in the centre. Use the format on the following page and identify the actions and processes the centre should undertake to evaluate their cultural safety strategies.

What documents could the service use to identify the benchmark/ outcomes or standards they could use to assess their cultural safety strategies
Who would you involve in the evaluation of the cultural safety strategies?
How would you gather their feedback?
What process could the service use to evaluate their perception of cultural safety
What strategies could the service implement to improve their perception of cultural safety in the community?

Read this passage and answer the following questions:

Scenario 3 Annie Smith is a 21 year old Indigenous woman who presents at your child care centre with her sister, Jane, who made the appointment. Annie is reluctant to speak and Jane does most of the talking. She explains that Annie has two children aged three and one that she would like to enrol at the service. Jane also explains that Annie is a recovering alcoholic, no longer lives with the children’s father and she is pregnant to a new partner who is also an alcoholic and has been occasionally violent. She explains that Annie has been treated for head injuries suffered during a recent attack from her partner. Annie has left home and is now staying with Jane. Jane tells you that Annie was a high achiever at school but has never worked, having become pregnant immediately on leaving school. She now suffers headaches, says she is ‘confused’ and is using alcohol occasionally when she feels stressed. The sisters have a strong matriarchal extended family. Their mother and grandmother live in a bush town on their traditional land. Jane says that their grandmother was a ‘stolen generation’ victim who believes strongly that Annie must return to country for physical and spiritual healing to occur. To help with this, Jane will be acting as carer for the children. Jane also explains that she is worried that she will need to organise for her sister’s transport and the children may be late or miss occasional days because of this.

Identify two (2) significant factors that could be responsible for Annie’s confusion and explain why.

What strategies can you implement to provide Jane and Annie with a feeling of cultural safety at the centre and that the children’s cultural needs will be accommodated?