Guiding principles for developing Indigenous cultural competency in Australian universities

In 2009 Universities Australia, in collaboration with the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (IHEAC), obtained support and grant funding from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to undertake a two year project on Indigenous cultural competency in Australian universities. The aim of the project was to provide the Australian higher education sector with a best practice framework comprising the theoretical and practical tools necessary to embed Indigenous cultural competency at the institutional level to provide encouraging and supportive environments for Indigenous students and staff, whilst providing non-Indigenous graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary for providing genuinely competent services to the Australian Indigenous community. For the purposes of this document, cultural competence is defined as: student and staff knowledge and understanding of Indigenous Australian cultures, histories and contemporary realities and awareness of Indigenous protocols, combined with the proficiency to engage and work effectively in Indigenous contexts congruent to the expectations of Indigenous Australian peoples. This paper is intended to provide a practical guide for Australian universities to develop their programs and processes regarding Indigenous cultural competency theory and practice. It is a distillation of the findings of the larger project, particularly the National Best Practice Framework for Indigenous Cultural Competency in Australian Universities report. The paper presents five general guiding principles for developing cultural competency within the university environment, as well as a number of more detailed recommendations for specific activities and a range of existing best practice examples to demonstrate the range of activities already being undertaken by universities. The guiding principles relate to the themes of: (1) university governance; (2) teaching and learning; (3) Indigenous research; (4) human resources; and (5) community engagement. The recommendations are not designed to be prescriptive and the intention is for institutions to adopt or amend them to suit their own individual situation, focus and style of operation.

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