Aboriginal Mental Health

Last update: 12 September 2012,
by Maureen Bell

The page is divided into a section on Australian aboriginal people, and a second section on other indigenous peoples, and includes the full text of a number of books and reports. You will find further links to sites dealing with aboriginal health issues, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, on my public health page

Lists of books and journal articles relating to Aboriginal mental health issues can be found on my bibliographies and reading lists page.

Australia

Aboriginal Mental Health and Well Being Policy 2006-2010
NSW Department of Health, July 2007. The NSW Aboriginal Mental Health and Well Being Policy 2006-2010 is a framework to guide NSW Health and NSW Area Mental Health Services (AMHSs) in the provision of culturally sensitive and appropriate mental health and social and emotional well being services to the Aboriginal community of NSW.

Aboriginal Mental Health Worker Program. Final Evaluation Report
By G. Robinson and A. Harris. School for Social and Policy Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, August 2006.

Australian Indigenous Mental Health
This site has been developed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) and beyondblue: the national depression initiative.

Evaluation of the Emotional and Social Well Being (Mental Health) Action Plan
From the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. A report prepared by Urbis Keys Young, as commissioned by OATSIH, May 2001.

Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) - All In The Mind
Transcripts and audios from All in the Mind, a series on ABC Radio National. Other programs can be found here

Key references « Social and emotional wellbeing (including mental health) Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
References for the key publications about the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are listed here.

Measuring the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, January 2009.

Mental Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - HealthInsite
.HealthInsite is an initiative funded by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, to provide easy access to quality health information.

NSW Aboriginal Mental Health Policy: Strategy for the Delivery of Mental Health Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales.
New South Wales Department of Health, Centre for Mental Health, 1997.

New South Wales Aboriginal Mental Health Worker Training Program: Implementation Review
By Carol Watson and Nea Harrison. Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and NSW Department of Health, January 2009.

Psychiatric Assessment in Remote Aboriginal Communities of Central Australia
A dissertation submitted in August 1997 by Mark Sheldon in part fulfilment of the requirements of the Part 2 examination for the Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Resources from the Lowitja Institute.

Substance use (Protective & risk factors)
Information from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet.

Ways Forward: National Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Mental Health Policy
National consultancy report by P. Swan and B. Raphael. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, c1995.

Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice
Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice, edited by Nola Purdie, Pat Dudgeon and Roz Walker was released in July 2010. The full text is available online, or hard copies may be ordered (free of charge) from this web site.

Other Indigenous Peoples

Aboriginal Mental Health Research Team: Working Papers of the Culture and Mental Health Research Unit on Aboriginal Mental Health (McGill University)
Full text and summaries of reports are available

Aboriginal Mental Health: What Works Best
Prepared by Vicki Smye and Bill Mussell. Mheccu (Mental Health Evaluation and Community Consultation Unit), University of British Columbia, July 2001.

Aotearoa Minds: Maoris Taking on Mental Health - Part 1
The transcript of the ABC Radio National program All In The Mind - 29 May 2004.

Aotearoa Minds: Maoris Taking on Mental Health - Part 2
The transcript of the ABC Radio National program All In The Mind - 5 June 2004.

Ethnopsychiatry and Theories of "the African Mind" [MJM 1997 3: 40-43]
The McGill Journal of Medicine (MJM) provides an international forum for student contributions to the field of medicine.

The Mental Health of Indigenous Peoples: An International Overview
The Mental Health of Indigenous Peoples: An International Overview, by Alex Cohen. Geneva, Department of Mental Health, World Health Organization, 1999.