Aboriginal cultural safety and self-determination
Cultural safety is about inclusion, and how staff are welcomed, respected, recognised and valued. It’s about everyone feeling safe to be themselves at work.
Everyone has a role in establishing culturally safe workplaces for First Nations staff, by actively recognising, respecting and valuing each individual’s unique identity and contributions.
In culturally safe workplaces, there is shared respect, shared meaning and shared knowledge. There is no challenge or denial of First Nations identities. Staff feel safe and can practice their culture without the experience of discrimination or racism.
Cultural safety is part of all stages of an employee’s journey. A culturally safe workplace benefits everyone.
Under the Child Safe Standards, schools must also be a culturally safe environment for First Nations children and young people.
To support cultural safety in the workplace, principals and school leaders can:
- strengthen your understanding of cultural safety
- embed the principles of self-determination
- attract First Nations people to roles at your school
- support First Nations employees to attend professional development.
The Aboriginal Employment policy also has details about important department strategies for First Nations education, inclusion and employment, including Dhelk Wukang(opens in a new window) and the Aboriginal Employment Plan(opens in a new window).
Self-determination
As part of the continuous improvement approach for the Aboriginal Employment Plan, the department is committed to actively building its capability to prioritise First Nations self-determination.
First Nations cultural safety and self-determination are described in the department’s Aboriginal Employment Plan, drawing on the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework(opens in a new window). First Nations self-determination is a spectrum of rights that are necessary for First Nations Victorians to achieve economic, social and cultural equity. These rights are based on cultural values and ways of life.
Self-determination is the guiding principle when working with First Nations people and communities. It is embedded in all the department’s First Nations strategies and policies. Go to Aboriginal Employment and First Nations Education to read these documents.
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