Lived Experience Advisory Group - Cultural Safety

Purpose

The purpose of this Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) is for First Nations Persons to advise the MHELPQ on cultural safety, generally and specifically in the following ways:

Co-create a MHLEPQ Cultural Safety in Mental Health Care Position Statement
Further advocacy for systemic cultural safety, based on the MHLEPQ’s submission to the Queensland Parliamentary Inquiry into the Mental Health system
Advise the MHLEPQ operational team on the most appropriate ways for First Nations Persons’ voices to be heard in other LEAGs and representative committees
Advise the MHELPQ on best practice cultural safety within policies and practices.

Expression of interest

The MHLEPQ are inviting First Nations persons with a lived experience of Queensland mental health services and / or suicidality, who are interested in being appointed as LEAG Members, to advise on cultural safety. This document describes who we are, what the project is, some of the details of the role, and what we offer to participants.

Commitment

The MHLEPQ are committed to organisational practices that are guided by the principle of cultural safety that are recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and consumer-led. The concept of cultural safety will continue to evolve and be shaped by the interactions between the organisation and its First Nations Persons’ LEAG, MHLEPQ members and the broader lived experience community.

We acknowledge the risks of participating in the LEAG and strive for cultural, psychological and organisational safety. We are intentional about relationship-building, inclusivity, support, debriefing, and reflective learning practices with the individuals, communities and organisations we work with.

Background

[… when …] reviewing the cultural safety and cultural competence of mainstream services, local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and consumers / people with lived experience must be in the driver’s seat. Cultural competence and cultural safety must be recognised as subjective experiences that are, ultimately, ‘from the eye’ of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and consumers / people these services work with.

Dudgeon et al., 2018. Indigenous Governance for Suicide Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities: A guide for Primary Health Networks. Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Western Australia, p.31.

MHLEPQ Values and commitments

The Mental Health Lived Experience Peak Queensland (MHLEPQ) is committed to meaningful engagement with people with a lived experience of mental health services, and as appropriate, other members of the community as equal partners in its work. The values that underpin our work are safety, respect, intentional, integrity and outcomes. We commit to[1]:

interacting in a culturally and psychologically safe way
working inclusively, compassionately, and patiently
acknowledging mistakes, apologising and learning from them
seeing the whole person in any interaction
courageous curiosity about the strengths, resilience and capabilities of others

interacting in a culturally and psychologically safe way
working inclusively, compassionately, and patiently
acknowledging mistakes, apologising and learning from them
seeing the whole person in any interaction
courageous curiosity about the strengths, resilience and capabilities of others

Cultural Safety Work

The MHLEPQ are guided by cultural safety principles for influencing systemic change across the social sector. Evidence shows that ‘cultural blindness’ has been a major upstream determinant of the inequitable mental health and wellbeing outcomes for First Nations Persons, including, but not limited to the contributing factors of racism, impacts of colonisation and systemic discrimination. Social disadvantage and environmental adversity are continuing stressors for First Nations Peoples today.

To advocate for systemic cultural safety, we must be a culturally safe organisation by modelling the principles we describe. The purpose of this LEAG is to be led by First Nations Persons as we work towards the cultural safety of our organisation and reproducing culturally safe work with staff, members and communities. Our approach echoes the Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration and more recent National Strategic Framework (2017-2023) for improving mental health service outcomes for First Nations Peoples.

Download Cultural Safety LEAG information sheet as a PDF.

What is being asked of this LEAG?

First Nations people with relevant lived experience are being invited to inform:

the development of the MHLEPQs Cultural Safety in Mental Health Care Position Statement
further advocacy for systemic cultural safety, based on the MHLEPQ’s submission to the Queensland Parliamentary Inquiry into the Mental Health system
advise the MHLEPQ operational team on the most appropriate ways for First Nations Persons’ voices to be heard in other LEAGs and representative committees
advise the MHELPQ on best practice cultural safety within policies and practices.

Who will be a good fit for this project?

Reporting

This group will be required to provide feedback as requested by the Board on MHLEPQ activities relating to the agreed priorities of the Cultural Safety advisory group. The Members of this LEAG will report to the CEO (or nominee) and not to the Board directly.

Location

A hybrid way of working is generally established, with some face-to-face engagement expected at critical periods of project development. The address of the MHLEPQ office is WOTSO, 84 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley Brisbane. We also have access to Sunshine Coast offices. Travel to external stakeholder venues may occasionally be requested.

Time/resource expectations

The LEAG will meet as often as required for the development of the project, which may be as frequently as weekly, but no less than quarterly. Each appointment lasts for a maximum of two years, or where the task is ongoing, for a maximum of four years.

Duties and Responsibilities

The LEAG advisory group will be guided by the LEAG Scope/Charter Statement as they engage with the MHLEPQ staff and stakeholders to:

participate in discussions, activities, events, and training that relate to the stated objectives of the group, including (but not limited to):
1. finalisation of the MHLEPQ Cultural Safety in Mental Health Care Position Statement; and
2. establishment of an enduring LEAG to act as cultural advisors to the peak.
provide non-binding recommendations and/or key information to the MHLEPQ through the CEO or the Board, where specifically required to do so.

Paid participation policy

Paid Participation is one of the ways MHLEPQ recognises the valuable, specialised and expert contribution made by people who have a lived/ living experience of mental ill-health. Members will be remunerated through:

a Paid Participation Payment, based on the structure of the Queensland Mental Health Commission’s policy (Appendix 1)
payment for reasonable travel and accommodation costs
reimbursement of reasonable associated out of pocket expenses

Time spent traveling to and from, and preparing or reading for and after, Paid Participation activities will be included in the overall hours and will not be separately included in the payment claim.

Our pledge to participants

Our awareness of the risks of participation

The main objective for our system advocacy body is one of cultural, psychological and organisational safety, underpinned by recovery-oriented, trauma-informed and culturally safe approaches. The MHLEPQ are intentional about caring for the wellbeing of all individuals and organisations they interact with. We acknowledge the potential for distress for people with lived experience of system-related harm within mental health services, including the possibility for traumatisation and re-traumatisation of people working with the MHLEPQ.

Cultural safety

The MHLEPQ are committed to organisational practices that are culturally safe, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and consumer-led. The concept of cultural safety will continue to evolve and be shaped by the interactions between the organisation, it’s members and the broader lived experience community, and remain one of our guiding principles. We are guided by the company’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Policy, that states that “Culture can be constructed to relate to more than ethnicity alone. Culture can include a person’s socio-economic status or background, region, race, religion, gender, age, sexuality and / or (dis)ability”[2]. One previous LEAG found that cultural blindness is a major issue in mental health services and recommended a pivot toward a system that meets the cultural, social and safety needs of the people who use it.

Relationship building

We commit to develop and sustain a respectful organisational culture. We will seek to understand first, then be heard, as we develop collaborative relationships with the LEAG Members. The LEAG Members will be supported to build trust and rapport in several ways, including:

opportunity at each meeting to get to know their peers in a relaxed way that creates safe and inclusive space, and an environment of participation
information about safe storytelling and meeting practices
discussions with individuals about their emotional readiness for personal story sharing and encouragement of “personal safety plans”
a buddy system for communication about their wellbeing.

Inclusivity statement

The MHLEPQ are guided by their Diversity & Inclusion Policy that supports diversity along many dimensions. The policy states that “Our diversity encompasses differences in ethnicity, gender, language, age, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, physical and mental ability, thinking styles, experience, and education”.[3] We are committed to tackling cultural stereotypes both within and outside our organisation, treating all people with respect and dignity, and benefitting consumer members through our diversity practices.

Support and debriefing

The Members will be provided mentor and administrative support arranged by MHLEPQ engagement leads and policy staff. Approaches to individual and group debriefing will be decided in collaboration with the members, with a range of internal and external options available.

Reflective learning

The MHLEPQ commit to reflecting on the LEAG project journey by documenting the feedback, experiences and recommendations of the Members during, and at the completion of their work. We will evaluate and share the views from the codesign debrief process and take new learnings forward in our work.

Approaching Conflict

Tensions naturally arise due to differences of opinion and are welcomed as an expected part of the co-creative process. We believe that open and respectful communication in the context of conflict transformation principles that focus on building constructive change out of conflict, are often sufficient to support positive outcomes. Formal dispute resolution processes are outlined in the MHLEPQ Constitution and detailed more in the Company Operations Manual. These documents are available to LEAG Members, as well as a designated person to discuss conflict with in the first instance

Ready to express your interest?

Let us know by filling out the Expression of Interest Form.

Download the Cultural Safety Expression of Interest Form, if you prefer using a paper copy.

You can send us your completed form by taking a photo or scanning a copy and emailing through to us at: [email protected]

Follow the link to open the Expression of Interest Form in a new internet browser tab or express your interest using the the form below.