ARHEN Indigenous Staff Network Terms of Reference

1. Membership, operations, and terms of reference for the UDRH Indigenous Staff Network

Membership

The UDRH Indigenous Staff Network (ISN) is an Indigenous-specific group, that is, membership is open to and limited to UDRH staff members who are Indigenous.

However, invited guests will be included when and where appropriate, as determined by the ISN.

Operations

The ISN will appoint a Chair annually on a rotating basis. The Chair for 2004 is Juli Coffin, CUCRH.

The ISN has also identified 5 portfolio areas with members identified to work on these areas. These are as follows:

Research
Student placements
Community
Cultural Issues
Curriculum

The ISN plans to hold at least one annual face-to-face meeting, preferably two or at least one other staff exchange, as well as teleconferences. The face-to-face meeting for 2004 will be held alongside a face-to-face ARHEN Board meeting if feasible.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference for the ISN, as outlined at the March 2004 ISN meeting, are:

• Assist and support Indigenous community toward self-determination of local health priorities in remote and rural settings.
• Provide support and encouragement to Indigenous health workforce, researchers, educators and students, working within and for rural and remote communities.
• Ensure that non-Indigenous health workers, professionals and academics are equipped with cultural safety and protocols when dealing with Indigenous health issues.
• Develop guidelines and processes to ensure Indigenous communities and UDRHs work together in providing education and research initiatives.
• Strive to ensure Indigenous issues are acknowledged and acted upon in the forefront of the national and state health agendas.
• Provide mechanisms for partnership and alliance with peak Indigenous health bodies ensuring representation on Indigenous health issues is presented as a collaborative voice.

Statement of Intent from the ISN

In our capacity we will act as an advisory, advocacy and action group, to enhance respect, credibility, transfer of knowledge, resources and support that will raise the profile of the UDRH Aboriginal staff, Aboriginal health research, and community consultation processes with Aboriginal Communities by/with UDRH centres. This will eventuate by continually developing collaborative pathways, networks and partnerships through education and ongoing consultation with the Aboriginal staff/communities and all staff of UDRHs/ARHEN.

2. Principles for cultural safety within UDRHs

The UDRH Indigenous Staff Network has drafted a set of principles for consideration by UDRH Directors, which if followed, we believe will help to ensure that all UDRHs operate in a culturally safe way.

These principles are:

1. Indigenous staff in UDRHs in UDRHs should be accepted, acknowledged, and respected, as a key resource linking UDRHs with their communities.
2. The dual role of Indigenous staff, as UDRH staff members and as members of their local Indigenous community, needs to be appreciated and respected. As part of this, community ways of doing business should be respected; and issues of community capacity building and sustainability need to be addressed. It also needs to be acknowledged that each Indigenous community is unique, and what is appropriate in one area may not be appropriate in another.
3. Each UDRH should develop internal protocols covering the way Indigenous issues and projects are handled, and the role of Indigenous staff members in this.
4. Indigenous staff in UDRHs should be closely involved in planning and decision making right from the outset, on all projects and other initiatives relevant to Indigenous health and Indigenous communities.
5. All UDRH staff should be oriented in Indigenous issues relevant to the local community, and be made aware of community resources and Indigenous cultural protocols in the area.
6. Each UDRH should employ a suitable number of Indigenous staff, reflecting both the importance of Indigenous health in the work of the UDRH, and the importance of avoiding a situation where Indigenous staff in non-Indigenous organisations can experience isolation.
7. Each UDRH should implement appropriate pay scales both for their Indigenous staff, and for visiting Indigenous/lecturers/guest speakers, in recognition of the value of their community-based expertise in the education and training and mentoring programs offered by the UDRH.

3. Delivery of cultural awareness/cultural safety programs

Statement

We, the UDRH Indigenous Staff Network, will enable honest, safe working protocols to enhance collaborations between individuals and Indigenous communities that will develop and foster positive and ongoing working relationships within Indigenous communities where possible.

The ISN will provide the UDRH with the opportunity to undertake valued interaction with the Indigenous community, and facilitate safe working practises for UDRH staff and the Indigenous community through cultural awareness/cultural safety programs.

However, it is not always appropriate for the UDRH Indigenous staff member to deliver these programs themselves, unless they are recognised by their local Aboriginal community as an appropriate person to do this. In many cases it will be better for the UDRH Indigenous staff member to link the UDRH with the appropriate people in the local community who can deliver cultural awareness/cultural safety programs. The UDRH Indigenous staff member may therefore be the facilitator or co-ordinator of cultural awareness/cultural safety programs, rather than the person who actually delivers the programs.

The people developing and delivering cultural safety/cultural awareness programs must be Aboriginal, and must consult with appropriate Aboriginal people and organisations. They must be from the country where the programs are being delivered.

It may be useful in some cases for UDRHs to advertise for, or seek in other ways, people to deliver cultural awareness/cultural safety programs, and to keep a list of appropriate people who meet the selection criteria. The people delivering the programs should be provided with clear guidance on what is required and delivery of the programs should be monitored to ensure their appropriateness.

4. UDRH relationships with local Indigenous communities

In its relationships with local Indigenous communities, UDRHs should be aware of and responsive to the following cultural issues:

Cultural safety
Cultural security
Cultural protocols
Cultural sensitivity
Cultural awareness
Cultural relevance
Cultural brokerage

Amongst other things, UDRHs need to be aware of and recognise:

• The role of UDRH Indigenous staff in their community (including their involvement with other organisations and other responsibilities).
• The rights of the community to transparent consultation and feedback
• The need to support the community to identify needs in the health area and to facilitate capacity building.
• The stress on community elders; UDRHs should ensure sensitivity in accessing them for their knowledge, and remunerate them appropriately.
• The need to empower communities to address health issues, and to help facilitate the process to achieve positive outcomes.
• The obligation on UDRHs to respond to community requests for assistance in overcoming identified health matters.

5. Indigenous health research

In relation to Indigenous health research, the UDRH Indigenous Staff Network:

• Endorses the use of the “road map” developed through the NHMRC Research Agenda Working Group (RAWG) as a guide to priorities in Indigenous health research.
• Emphasises the importance of the Indigenous community and Indigenous staff of the UDRH being part of the UDRH research process, and having ownership of this process. This includes the importance of channelling information about planned research to the Indigenous community and Indigenous staff at the conception of the project; and the responsibility on for UDRH Directors and senior research staff incorporate Indigenous staff in relevant research.
• Recognises the rights of the community in Indigenous health research, including the community’s entitlement to transparent and representative negotiation; and the importance of capacity building in methodology and practice (where there needs to be action, not just words).
• Emphasises the importance of recognising both Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge and qualifications. Indigenous people have life skills and community expertise which need to be appropriately recognised (not just in a token way), in particular when negotiating and formulating sustainable research.
• Emphasises the need for research to be seen as part of community development. The impact on the community should be the top priority in research, rather than the benefits which may flow to the UDRH, funders, researchers, or individuals.
• Recognises the need for flexibility around deadlines, as part of Indigenous research methodology.
• Emphasises the need to support long term outcomes in the community, including employment flowing from research projects.

6. Student Placements

Student placements within Indigenous organisations need to be seen as a privilege, not a right, and need to be guided by the following principles:

• The right of the Indigenous community to decline to take students on placement, at the beginning or at some other point in the process.
• Adequate payment should be made available to organisations which participate in process.
• The community should determine access within the program.
• The UDRH should support and maintain capacity and sustainability of the program.
• UDRH Indigenous staff should be included and consulted prior to placement of medical/other students in communities or organisations.
• Cultural protocol training sessions should be provided for students before they go into communities.
• UDRHs need to select appropriate students to work with communities.
• Assessment of students’ performance from the placement should be recognised as part of their overall assessment.
• There should be separate debriefing sessions with students and communities at the end of the placement.
• Aboriginal Health Workers should be included in negotiations prior to student placements.
• At the placement site, all members of the organisation eg AHWs, bus drivers and other Indigenous staff, should be briefed; and agreed commitments should be developed regarding the program.
• Where appropriate and available, mentoring programs should be utilised.
• There should be collaborative business planning within the community in relation to student placements, which may involve a revisiting of current Memoranda of Understanding or other agreements with Aboriginal health bodies and other Aboriginal bodies.