Effective behaviour support: Learning from First Nations practice

Doug Payne, Senior Clinical Consultant, Behaviour Support Practitioner
(SAL Consulting – Darwin, Northern Territory)

So you're a behaviour support practitioner who supports Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. So for your non-Indigenous clients, do you use those practices?

Hanna Lewis, Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Practitioner, Behaviour Support Practitioner
Descendant of Larrakia / Jawoyn / Torres Strait Islander (Mabuiag Island) Groups
(SAL Consulting – Darwin, Northern Territory)

Yeah, I don't change my style at all. Being an Aboriginal woman myself, I came into this role and naturally had that narrative and Yarning approach. And I've found that I don't change my style no matter who the client is. And I have great outcomes with even my non-Aboriginal clients and able to capture a lot of their story and what's important to them.

Michael Manski, Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Practitioner, Behaviour Support Practitioner
Uwynmil Clan Group; McKinley, Mary River Region
(SAL Consulting – Darwin, Northern Territory)

One of the important things is also language barriers. A lot of isolated communities, a lot of Aboriginal people. English is their second or third language. So again, understanding that and approaching that on a level where you're getting support around, other kinship networks, family members, Elders and communicating with them to communicate with our clients as well.

Hanna Lewis

It's always important to have a practitioner or a cultural consultant involved in the development of behaviour support plans.

That way you've got someone with that world view from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make sure it's culturally safe and appropriate that the right information has been put in and we see plans where there's information put in there, but if the family were to read that it wouldn't be appropriate or it would probably be taken the wrong way and we could probably see that causing a disconnect between the practitioner and the family and the participant as well.

So, yeah, I think it's always important to have a First Nations consultant or practitioner support worker involved in the process of developing behaviour support plans.

Doug Payne

There are times where I come to you and say, ‘How do I approach this situation?’ Or you might pull me aside and go, ‘Oh, not so good, have another go at that.’

And I think as a practitioner I need to have an open mind and take advice from you guys and seek that advice. My job is to help people have a better life.

And if I'm serious about that, I need to take advice from wherever I can get it. And that's for the benefit of the client and the benefit for the family. Yeah.

And as you said before, Michael, one of the things that really surprised me, particularly the places in remote, English might be their fourth or fifth language. They're fluent in four or five other languages, depending on where they are.

And so the person might come across when I talk in English as well, they don't understand me. And then you might say, or a cultural consultant might say, let's get someone in who speaks their language, or we go through someone else. And the richness of information just flows from that.

Michael Manski

In the Northern Territory itself, we have a range of 70 to 80 different clan groups, almost a thousand different languages.

So again, different communities, similar culture. Entering a community that you're not familiar with, best practice would be, you know, connecting with the Traditional Owners, the Elders from that place, and getting some information around the community by networking with other services, other providers and building that trust with the Traditional Owners from that area and then networking with them as well to see what support we can further implement in the community.

Doug Payne

Thanks Hanna and Michael for that information. I'm sure other behaviour support practitioners across Australia hopefully will get to hear what you've said and it will improve their practices.

Because that's what we want to do, we want to get better at what we do. And particularly the idea of some of the things we learn when we're working with Indigenous people, particularly in remote communities, how those skills and that knowledge can transfer across to working with Aboriginal people in their community and also non-Aboriginal people. Thank you.

Hanna Lewis

Thank you.

Closing credits (text presented on screen)

How will you use these ideas to improve engagement in your behaviour support practice?