Working towards cultural responsiveness and inclusion in Australia: The re-Indigenization of social work education

The scope of Australian social work education, training and practice models retain many of the Western components from which they were initially derived. Indigenization is concerned with the use of appropriate First Nation theories and practice methods that can transform the entrenched and sometimes enforced Westernised values, norms, and philosophies. This paper argues that social work education should prepare social workers to work with ethnic and culturally diverse populations and more safely with Indigenous peoples. The issues and challenges concerned with re-Indigenization and how social work education and practice should adapt are explored.