Australian psychologists must recognize the role of psychology and affiliated organizations, boards, and societies in the impact of British colonization and its impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For instance, the APS was initially established as a BPS branch in 1944 during a period of assimilation policies and high rates of forced child removals, now referred to as the Stolen Generation.

Australian psychology originated from British psychology, making it an agent of colonialism throughout Australia’s history. Psychology was complicit in and partly responsible for the failure of Australia to respond to the distress experienced by Indigenous people due to forced settlement and colonisation. The dark history of Australian psychology reminds us to question and challenge assumptions about what is “normal” and “pathological”.

In 2016, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) formally apologized to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, earning a standing ovation from members. This apology was a necessary step towards regaining Indigenous peoples’ trust in psychology and acknowledging the importance of decentralizing Western values in clinical practice and assessment.

The APS Apology specifically addresses the use of westernized psychological assessment methods with Indigenous Australians, an area that requires reflection and rethinking. It is crucial to ensure that psychologists and psychological researchers use culturally appropriate assessment processes that are fit-for-purpose.

Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from the Australian Psychological Society Disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and other Australians on a range of different factors are well documented. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience much higher rates of psychological distress, chronic disease, and incarceration than other Australians. They manage many more stressors on a daily basis and, although suicide did not exist in their cultures prior to colonisation it is now a tragically inflated statistic. The fact that these disparities exist and are long standing in a first world nation is deplorable and unacceptable.

As we understand these challenging issues in relation to wellbeing and health, it is very important that we tell the stories of the strengths and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the proud custodians of the longest surviving cultures on our planet. With this in mind, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ resilience and resourcefulness could make a significant and positive impact on Australian society should they have the opportunity to contribute routinely in their areas of expertise.

We, as psychologists, have not always listened carefully enough to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We have not always respected their skills, expertise, world views, and unique wisdom developed over thousands of years. Building on a concept initiated by Professor Alan Rosen, we sincerely and formally apologise to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians for:

• Our use of diagnostic systems that do not honour cultural belief systems and world views
• The inappropriate use of assessment techniques and procedures that have conveyed misleading and inaccurate messages about the abilities and capacities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Conducting research that has benefitted the careers of researchers rather than improved the lives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants
• Developing and applying treatments that have ignored Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander approaches to healing and that have, both implicitly and explicitly, dismissed the importance of culture in understanding and promoting social and emotional wellbeing and
• Our silence and lack of advocacy on important policy matters such as the policy of forced removal which resulted in the Stolen Generations.

To demonstrate our genuine commitment to this apology, we intend to pursue a different way of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that will be characterised by diligently:

• Listening more and talking less
• Following more and steering less
• Advocating more and complying less
• Including more and ignoring less and
• Collaborating more and commanding less.

Through our efforts, in concert and consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we envisage a different future. This will be a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people control what is important to them rather than having this controlled by others. It will be a future in which there are greater numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists and more positions of decision making and responsibility held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ultimately, through our combined efforts, this will be a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enjoy the same social and emotional wellbeing as other Australians.

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) apologized for promoting psychological assessment tools that were designed, developed, and validated in Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) samples. This raises ethical issues and cultural appropriateness when using these assessment tools to assess individuals from different cultural backgrounds, especially Indigenous Australians.

One issue mentioned is linguistic and cultural bias in assessment tools, which arise due to questions, items, and response options based on concepts and values common in Western cultures. This could lead to inaccurate and unfair assessment outcomes, especially for Indigenous Australians with unique beliefs, values, and experiences.

To improve the accuracy of assessments, several steps could be taken, such as developing culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools, translating them into different Indigenous languages, and providing cultural competency training to psychologists. These steps will ensure that assessment outcomes are fair and culturally appropriate for all individuals.