Developing Culturally Competent Data Publication Resources

It is increasingly common for researchers to publish their datasets in open, mediated, or restricted form as a research output. The process of publishing data is complex and there are few guides that are practical or easy to understand. To bridge this gap, the Digital Curation and Data team at the University of Sydney Library initiated a project to develop applied data publication resources. To reflect current University and Library strategies, the team expanded the project to include a cultural competence review of each newly developed resource in order to reflect on the cultural biases that had gone into its creation and the ways in which the resource might appear through alternative cultural lenses, initially focusing on the data publication needs for research relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It may be especially challenging for researchers who are working with culturally sensitive data to find resources that are easy to use and relevant. One initial goal of this project is to ensure that researchers, students and staff can support the ethical and culturally appropriate publication of data relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities, and knowledges. The team reviewed prototyped resources with researchers who conduct research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to assess their usefulness and identify gaps. Resources are now being updated to reflect feedback, and additional resources will also be created. The intention is to continue to integrate cultural competence into the University of Sydney’s data curation and publication services and to expand this process to include wider cultural perspectives.

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Culturally competent communication in Indigenous disability assessment: a qualitative study

International Journal for Equity in Health ◽

10.1186/s12939-021-01402-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Angeline Ferdinand ◽

Libby Massey ◽

Jennifer Cullen ◽

Jeromey Temple ◽

Kristy Meiselbach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cultural Competence ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Service Providers ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Disability Assessment ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

Torres Strait ◽

Participant Understanding

Abstract Background Indigenous people tend to exhibit a higher burden of disability than their non-Indigenous counterparts, and are often underserved by disability services. Engaging appropriately with Indigenous communities, families and individuals in the initial stages of disability assessment and planning is crucial in order to build trust and understanding of disability service models and ensure that Indigenous people receive support that is tailored to their needs and cultural realities. This article aims to identify key elements of culturally competent communication in Indigenous disability assessment and planning, and provide recommendations for strengthening capacity in this area. Methods This qualitative research was designed to involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at all stages and to reflect the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, people and families affected by disability and the community-controlled health sector. Semi-structured individual interviews were undertaken with staff implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) (n = 4), NDIS participants (n = 24), disability support providers and organisational partners (n = 19) and Community Connectors (n = 8) in Queensland and the Northern Territory of Australia. Key themes derived from thematic analysis included appropriate and adequate engagement of individuals with disability and their families, the role of trusted relationships, and culturally safe and appropriate communication during planning meetings. Results Overall, the research findings highlight that a low level of cultural competence in the initial stages of the disability assessment and planning process exacerbated participant confusion and distrust towards assessment staff and the NDIS. Given difficulties in communication, participant understanding of the NDIS was generally limited. The necessity of culturally safe and appropriate use of interpreters was stressed, as was the role of trusted individuals, including existing service providers, Community Connectors and family members in providing a solid base for participant understanding of the NDIS. Conclusions Cultural competence in disability assessment and planning can be strengthened through multi-level engagement with the Aboriginal community-controlled sector and community leaders. Implementing mechanisms to enable the involvement of families, trusted service providers and Community Connectors can support a more meaningful understanding of individuals’ needs within their cultural context and in relation to their cultural roles.

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The Purga Project: Indigenous Knowledge Research

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/s1326011100001344 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 11-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Norm Sheehan ◽

Polly Walker

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Research Methodologies ◽

Torres Strait ◽

University Lecturers ◽

The University

We are Indigenous University lecturers involved in research with the Purga Elders and Descendants Aboriginal Corporation. Our research at Purga involves the instigation of Indigenous Knowledge as the basis of effective and valid research methodologies. This article will describe the work that the University of Queensland (UQ) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit is doing at Purga. It will then articulate the principles of Indigenous Knowledge Research that inform this work.

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NEWS: UQ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Participation Project

The Aboriginal Child at School ◽

10.1017/s0310582200005101 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 54-54

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Student Participation ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Monitoring Strategies ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The University

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at The University of Queensland has identified the need to develop detailed monitoring strategies to gauge the participation and academic performance of indigenous students at The University of Queensland. To reach this goal the Unit has launched a project which aims to investigate the participation and post-study destinations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

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Finding Space and Place: Using Narrative and Imagery to Support Successful Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Enabling Programs

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/jie.2016.11 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Clair Andersen ◽

Ann Edwards ◽

Brigette Wolfe

Keyword(s):

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Aboriginal People ◽

Word Meaning ◽

Space And Place ◽

Torres Strait Islander People ◽

Entry Level ◽

Whole Person ◽

Low Expectations ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The University

‘Riawunna’ is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘a place of learning’ for Aboriginal people, from entry level to tertiary studies, at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and operates on Hobart, Launceston and Burnie campuses. The Riawunna Centre was established to encourage Aboriginal people to aspire to higher levels of education, and to support them to be successful in their chosen course of study. One strategy developed to support the participation, retention and success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the Murina program. During the four year period between 2010 and 2013 every student at UTAS who graduated from the Murina program and chosen to enrol in undergraduate studies has been successful in completing their courses. One of the tools used to achieve this result is the strong use of narrative and images in our teaching. This whole-person approach to teaching resonates culturally with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but is also applicable to any student of any culture, especially those who come to university tentatively and with low expectations of what they can achieve.

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Non-Indigenous Psychologists Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Towards Clinical and Cultural Competence

Australian Psychologist ◽

10.1111/ap.12338 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 53 (5) ◽

pp. 394-404 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Caitlin Mullins ◽

Nigar G. Khawaja

Keyword(s):

Cultural Competence ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Torres Strait Islander People ◽

Torres Strait

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Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success

Student Success ◽

10.5204/ssj.v7i1.317 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Katelyn Barney

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Success Factors ◽

Indigenous Australian ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Future Developments ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The University ◽

Tertiary Study

Drawing on interviews with current and past Indigenous undergraduate students at the University of Queensland (UQ), this paper reports on findings from a project that explored the experiences of Indigenous Australian students and identified inhibitors and success factors for students. It also discusses one of the outcomes of the project and planned future developments that aim to provide better support for Indigenous Australian students at UQ. By knowing and acting upon the kinds of mechanisms that can assist Indigenous students, their experiences of tertiary study can be enhanced, leading to more students enrolling in and completing university study.

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Diwurruwurru: Towards a New Kind of Two-Way Classroom

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/s1326011100600546 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 24-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Bradley ◽

Frances Devlin-Glass ◽

Elizabeth Mackinlay

Keyword(s):

Performance Practice ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Community Education ◽

Ethnographic Film ◽

Women's Music ◽

Indigenous Australia ◽

Education Centre ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The University ◽

Anthropological Society Of London

A project is currently underway at http://arts.deakin.edu.au which is innovative on a number of fronts. It has multiple beginnings: in the proactive, as culture dissemination work of a number of Yanyuwa and Garrwa women, who proclaimed in the white man’s world that they were ‘bosses themselves’ (Gale 1983) and who in various ways have sought to bring their culture to the attention of the wider world. This has been accomplished through a prize-winning (Atom Australian Teachers of Media awards in 1991) film, Buwarrala Akarriya: Journey East (1989), of are-enacted ritual foot-walk in 1988 from Borroloola to Manankurra 90 kilometres away. They also made a another prize winning film called Ka-wayawayarna: The Aeroplane Dance (1993) which won the Royal Anthropological Society of London award for the best ethnographic film in 1995. Since 1997 senior Yanyuwa women have been involved on a regular basis in sharing their knowledge of Yanyuwa performance practice with tertiary students in a subject called Women’s Music and Dance in Indigenous Australia which is offered as a course in anthropology through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, they have also lectured in core anthropology subjects in the faculty of Social and Behavourial Sciences Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Queensland. They have also engaged actively in work as language preservers and teachers at the Borroloola Community Education Centre (hereafter BCEC) and in the Tennant Creek Language Centre program called Papulu Apparr-Kari.

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