Mental health professionals within Australia have been slow to respond to the social and clinical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the response to Indigenous needs has often been from a biomedical perspective which has denied the social and historical context.  Such a perspective fails to take into account of the strengths and resilience of Indigenous cultures and populations.

Mental health professionals should recognise that the asymmetry of power is often amplified in interactions between mental health professionals and Indigenous Australians.  Effective and empathic communication between non-Indigenous professionals and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients may require special effort and resources.  Professionals should be aware of and acknowledge their own cultural assumptions, respectful of the client and the client's culture and learn about those local factors (historical, contextual and behavioural), which support effective and empathic communication.

You should always treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and mental health workers as respected colleagues with special knowledge that can be essential for appropriate mental health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  You seek out and utilise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expertise including traditional and contemporary practitioners, and take into account cultural differences when considering the result of any standard evaluative processes.

It is important to make every effort to ensure that the language used during consultation does not present a barrier to full understanding and sharing of information and, if necessary, make use of Indigenous health professionals and interpreters to facilitate communication.