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Indigenous populations globally experience problem gambling at higher rates than mainstream communities, often leading to adverse outcomes in social, cultural, and health domains (The term 'indigenous' within this paper refers to all first nations people from the specified countries. When capitalised, this refers to Australian Indigenous people specifically.). Problem gambling in indigenous communities has been linked to relative poverty and social disadvantage. The sweeping impacts of problem gambling for indigenous communities are holistic in nature and are felt throughout many aspects of the community, including the local economy, education, employment, and cultural kinship obligations. The social links inherent in many gambling activities in addition to the motivations of players and complex socio-cultural milieu can make it very difficult to renounce the practice. This paper aims to evaluate the indigenous gambling literature to discern appropriate and effective principles to guide intervention development in the context of problem gambling pertaining to the Australian Indigenous population. A rapid review will be undertaken to gather, analyse, and interpret appropriate theoretical and empirical literature relating to gambling interventions for indigenous populations. Papers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and U.S.A (CANZUS) will be considered in the review and thematic analysis will be undertaken to ascertain a broad understanding of effective and appropriate problem gambling intervention principles applicable to these population groups. Despite the relative dearth of empirical evidence within this field, approaches to problem gambling intervention within indigenous populations must be culturally-centred and underpinned by a public health framework that considers the broad socio-politico-cultural context of the whole community. The importance of community-control, collaboration, community capacity building, workforce competence, a holistic approach, and gambling regulation cannot be overstated. The available literature focusses on an alternative approach to addressing problem gambling in indigenous communities, with much of the findings highlighting key indigenist principles within a context-based method of engagement and intervention, including addressing the social, political, and cultural determinants of problem gambling at a community-level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recent trends in Western civics education have attempted to secure democratic institutions from perceived threats. This paper investigates how political securitisation historically operated within civics textbooks in Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand. It further evaluates how Māori, Aboriginal and other Indigenous peoples were variably incorporated or marginalised in these educational discourses. Design/methodology/approach: This discourse analysis evaluates a sample of civics textbooks circulated in Australia and New Zealand between 1880 and 1920. These historical sources are interpreted through theories of decoloniality and securitisation. Findings: The sample of textbooks asserted to students that their self-governing colonies required the military protection of the British Empire against undemocratic "threats". They argued that self-governing colonies strengthened the empire by raising subjects who were loyal to British military interests and ideological values. The authors pedagogically encouraged a governmentality within students that was complementary to military, imperial and democratic service. The hypocritical denial of self-government for many Indigenous peoples was rationalised as a measure of "security" against "native rule" and imperial rivals. Originality/value: Under a lens of securitisation, the discursive links between imperialism, military service and democratic diligence have not yet been examined in civics textbooks from the historical contexts of Australia and New Zealand. This investigation provides conceptual and pedagogical insights for contemporary civics education in both nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cultural competency is often promoted as a strategy to address health inequities; however, there is little evidence linking cultural competency with improved patient outcomes. This article describes the characteristics of recent educational interventions designed to improve cultural competency in healthcare workers for First Nations peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. Methods: In total, 13 electronic databases and 14 websites for the period from January 2015 to May 2021 were searched. Information on the characteristics and methodological quality of included studies was extracted using standardised assessment tools. Results: Thirteen published evaluations were identified; 10 for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The main positive outcomes reported were improvements in health professionals' attitudes and knowledge, and improved confidence in working with First Nations patients. The methodological quality of evaluations and the reporting of methodological criteria were moderate. Conclusions: Cultural competency education programs can improve knowledge, attitudes and confidence of healthcare workers to improve the health of First Nations peoples. Providing culturally safe health care should be routine practice, particularly in places where there are concentrations of First Nations peoples, yet there is relatively little research in this area. There remains limited evidence of the effectiveness of cultural education programs alone on community or patient outcomes. Cultural competency is often promoted as a strategy to address health inequities, although evidence linking cultural competency to patient outcomes is scarce. We conducted a narrative review of the recent literature on cultural education programs and found 13 published evaluations, mainly reporting improvements in health professionals' attitudes and knowledge, and improved confidence in working with First Nations patients. Although cultural education has a positive short-term impact, none of the studies included measured improved patient health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to culturally safe health services is a basic human right, however through the lasting effects of colonisation, oppression, and systemic racism, the individual and community health of Indigenous peoples in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand have been severely impacted. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, and the Standards of Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety of the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board of New Zealand, recognise the importance of access to safe health care for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori patients, which encompasses both clinical competency and cultural safety. Universities have an ongoing responsibility to ensure their learning and teaching activities result in graduates being able to provide culturally safe practice. This article highlights the emergence of culturally safe practices in the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand optometry curricula over the last five years incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing into the curricula, understanding the local Indigenous histories and contexts, the adoption of online cultural education modules, and clinical placement partnerships with local Indigenous communities. Whilst there is still much work to do to achieve the goal of graduating culturally safe optometrists, this paper focuses on features that enable or impede progress in the development of culturally safe practices within the optometry programmes to improve eye health equity for Indigenous recognise the diversity of Indigenous cultures across Australia and NZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospitalisation of a child is a unique opportunity for health staff to offer smoking cessation support; that is screening for carer smoking status, discussing cessation and providing interventions to carers who smoke. This has the potential to reduce the child's exposure to second-hand smoke, and in turn tobacco related illnesses in children. However, these interventions are not always offered in paediatric wards. The aim of this study was to explore the provision and prioritisation of smoking cessation support to patient carers in a paediatric ward with a high proportion of Aboriginal patients and carers in a regional area of Australia's Northern Territory. Methods: This is a qualitative descriptive study of data collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 health staff. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts. Results: We found low prioritisation of addressing carer smoking due to, a lack of systems and procedures to screen for smoking and provide quitting advice and unclear systems for providing more detailed cessation support to carers. Staff were demotivated by the lack of clear referral pathways. There were gaps in skills and knowledge, and health staff expressed a need for training opportunities in smoking cessation. Conclusion: Health staff perceived they would provide more cessation support if there was a systematic approach with evidence-based resources for smoking cessation. These resources would include guidelines and clinical record systems with screening tools, clear action plans and referral pathways to guide clinical practice. Health staff requested support to identify existing training opportunities on smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our college name The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) and Crest (Coat of Arms) are echoes of our colonial past, which create a barrier to an inclusive 21st-century Australasian psychiatry. Two hundred and fifty years after European settlement, this article reviews the colonial legacy, the evolution of the college and the process by which the prefix 'Royal' came to be attached. This is now an anachronism that symbolically undermines our mission to create a fully inclusive psychiatry for all Australians and New Zealanders, from indigenous people across the spectrum of cultures drawn from recent migrations within our complex multicultural society.Conclusion: As psychiatrists, it is time to modernise and reinvent the college name and Crest. We will be a healthier and more inclusive community of practice without the 'Royal' prefix, and with a new symbol for our college that embodies our values and vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]