To what extent do you think a frontline practitioner or their service organisation is responsible for delivering ‘cultural competency’? What specific characteristics do you think these two components entail? Do you feel overwhelmed by the complexity in this area and wish you had a checklist to consult? This talk will help you identify a comprehensive range of factors to be aware of in the service setting, and in doing so you will be better placed to deliver ethical practice and help protect the cultural safety of migrant communities in Australia.

Dr Pooja Sawrikar’s academic career spans more than twenty years; since 2000, she has taught over 10,000 students Psychology and Research Methods subjects, and worked on a significant number of commissioned research projects for Australian state and federal governments and national and international non-government organisations (NGOs). Her research areas and publications cover racism, sexism, child protection, domestic violence, culturally appropriate service delivery, culture, migration, mental illness, social cognition, and academic publishing and funding. She uses research to not just comprehensively capture and explain the size and nature of a phenomena, but to use that evidence to reduce injustice and increase well-being. She is also the Founder and Director of Scholar Freedom, an academic publishing platform.