Cultural security

Cultural security is a philosophy and a way of operating that ensures all individuals and groups are treated with regard to their unique cultural needs and differences. It assumes the right to difference and calls for interactions that do not diminish, demean or disempower individuals on the basis of any perceived or actual difference.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is a local and national priority. Staff and students of Majarlin will strive to demonstrate and facilitate Cultural Security in their professional encounters through:

• Examination of and reflection on one’s own culture and its potential impact on others
• Developing and displaying sensitivity to historical influences on the health and well-being of others
• Acknowledging power relationships and dominance that are a result of cultural privilege, and acting to ensure equitable and respectful engagement
• Ensuring respectful dialogue and avoiding use of language that may be colonising or ‘othering’ in nature (the tendency to view ‘others’ as exotic and one’s own cultural group as the ‘norm’)
• Acceptance of the right to hold differing world and other views
• Increasing cultural knowledge
• Being a culturally responsive clinician

All Majarlin students will receive cultural safety training.