Cultural empowerment

Cultural empowerment^[1] is a reflective, holistic, validating, non-judgemental, two-way learning process provided by a supervisor who is skilled, experienced, caring, respectful and knowledgeable about their local First Nations community.^[2] The relationship should empower supervisees by reducing barriers for First Nations supervisees to perform their duties in a culturally safe environment.

First Nations workforces in Victoria need culturally safe empowerment.^[3] It provides cultural context when reflecting on practice. It incorporates a strengths-based and person-centred approach that acknowledges a supervisee’s sense of pride and purpose in being able to impart cultural knowledge to others. It is recommended for First Nations supervisees and non-Aboriginal supervisees who work with First Nations people and communities.

To be effective, supervisors and colleagues need to understand why culturally safe empowerment is important. This requires awareness and understanding of the history and subsequent issues and challenges for First Nations supervisees. Such challenges include working closely with their own community and carrying the ‘cultural load’.

Cultural load

Cultural load^[4] refers to multiple elements of stress, pressure and obligation that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners can experience in their professional roles. These pressures are outside the normal boundaries and expectations of other professionals working in community services. Cultural load can include:

• the often-unrecognised expectation to provide Indigenous knowledge, education and support to non-Aboriginal practitioners
• cultural obligations to client family members within community that involve support outside normal hours
• experiencing racism or cultural ignorance or assumptions in the workplace that need to be addressed and which take an emotional toll
• dealing with intergenerational trauma and lateral violence within community.

There are different elements of cultural load. In workplaces, these include the following:

• Employers may knowingly or unknowingly expect First Nations practitioners to provide Indigenous knowledge, education and support to other practitioners. This often occurs without any formal reduction or alteration of their other work.
• First Nations practitioners often live in the communities they work with. These community relationships can affect practitioner–client relationships and practice. In particular, it can often mean First Nations practitioners need to meet cultural obligations to client family members outside of work hours, which requires energy and time.
• First Nations practitioners who work on lands where they are not a Traditional Owner have different obligations to that community. These derive from a complex ‘adopted relationship’. This can involve being guided by Traditional Owners and Elders to fulfil cultural responsibilities that lie outside a professional work context.
• Being the only First Nations practitioner in an organisation can be particularly difficult and isolating in the context of carrying the cultural load alone. There is often a sense of responsibility to accurately represent the community. It can also sometimes involve having to experience and deal with either racist or unintentional cultural ignorance or cultural assumptions by team members.
• The overlay of transgenerational trauma, complex community relationships and lateral violence which adds to the ‘load’.

First Nations practitioners want and need to have their cultural load recognised and respected as an important aspect of their role. They also need culturally safe space during supervision to reflect on this role and its impact on them, including the conflicts and challenges.

Supporting cultural empowerment

Supervisors and colleagues should have appropriate cultural awareness training to be aware of their roles and responsibilities when working alongside First Nations supervisees. Non-Aboriginal services need to also recognise that some aspects of cultural empowerment and connection can only be gained and shared between First Nations people. Cultural meaning and practices will be different from non-Aboriginal norms and belief systems.^[5]

The Yarn Up Time and the CASE model^[6] offer guidance on how to provide culturally responsive supervision for First Nations practitioners and non-Aboriginal practitioners working with First Nations communities.