On Close the Gap Day, peak body for psychology, the Australian Psychological Society (APS), has launched a national campaign to strengthen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychology workforce, calling on members and the community to support the Bendi Lango Bursary.
The bursary provides financial support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander postgraduate psychology students, helping to address financial barriers to completing their studies and entering the profession.
APS President Dr Kelly Gough said growing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychology workforce is essential to improving social and emotional wellbeing outcomes.
"A psychology workforce that reflects the diversity of our community is essential to delivering culturally responsive care.
"Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists strengthens our profession and improves outcomes for all communities across Australia," Dr Gough said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent around three per cent of the Australian population but make up less than one per cent of the psychology workforce.
Supporting postgraduate students through initiatives such as the Bendi Lango Bursary is one practical way the profession can address this gap and help build a more inclusive psychology workforce.
In 2006, Belle Selkirk, Noongar woman, Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia, became the inaugural recipient of the Bendi Lango Bursary.
"When I was announced as the inaugural APS Bendi Lango Bursary recipient, I felt a huge wave of relief and a sense that everything would be ok", Belle said.
"I recall getting ready for my Master of Clinical Psychology and trying to work out how I was going to get through it all, while managing my expenses and financial commitments.
"The Bendi Lango Bursary is an initiative that's investing in Indigenous psychology and having real world impact - there has been some remarkable Indigenous psychology leaders who have been recipients - such as Graham Gee, Stacey McMullen, Sam Paxton, Tahnee McBean and Madelyne Buhagiar," Belle said.
Being the inaugural APS Bendo Lango recipient, I didn't realise at the time what a legacy it would become 20 years later. It's a real delight to be part of it."
Belle now leads the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) that includes over 80% of Schools of Psychological Science in Australian Universities. This project along with other initiatives will positively transform psychology.
Indigenous Taskforce
The campaign coincides with the establishment of an APS Indigenous Taskforce, chaired by Professor Patricia Dudgeon AM and supported by APS President Dr Kelly Gough. Professor Pat Dudgeon and the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association will be providing essential Indigenous leadership for the taskforce.
The Taskforce will guide key reconciliation initiatives across the profession, including planning the 10‑year anniversary of the APS Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and updating the APS Reconciliation Action Plan.
Professor Dudgeon said supporting the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists is critical to strengthening both the profession and the communities psychologists serve.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists bring cultural knowledge, community connection and lived understanding that are essential to effective mental health care.
Vanessa Edwige, Chair of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association and member of the Taskforce welcomes this important initiative that will guide the APS into being a more culturally inclusive space.
