A6.1
Tracks
Stream A
| Friday, October 30, 2026 |
| 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM |
| Ballroom A (SFS) |
Overview
Working Reflexively and Responsively in Indigenous-Led Contexts: Reflections on Professional Practice for Non-Indigenous Psychologists | 15 mins
Presenter
Ms Liz Pritchard
University Of Western Australia
Working Reflexively and Responsively in Indigenous-Led Contexts: Reflections on Professional Practice for Non-Indigenous Psychologists
3:00 PM - 3:15 PMAbstract
In organisational settings, psychologists are often positioned to provide expert advice, solve problems and drive change. These professional norms can carry assumptions about expertise, authority and leadership that require critical examination when working within Indigenous-led and governed spaces. Drawing on learnings from a practicum with the Australian Indigenous psychology Education Project (AIPEP), this presentation reflects on what cultural responsive participation is required of a non-Indigenous provisional psychologist: prioritising relationships, respecting Indigenous governance and cultural authority, critically examining one's positionality and assumptions, and recognising when one's role is to listen, contribute or step back rather than lead. This presentation itself also sits within this governance and is being developed and shared with AIPEP’s knowledge and blessing.
Rather than focusing on technical expertise, this presentation highlights some of the culturally responsive skills and approaches for non-Indigenous psychologists to participate responsibly within Indigenous-led and governed spaces, including reflexivity, relationship-building, role clarity, accountability and cultural safety. These reflections are linked to PsyBA Professional Competency 3 professional reflexivity, Competency 8 working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and Principle 2 of the Code of Conduct relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety.
This presentation includes reflections about colonial load and how non-Indigenous practitioners can minimise burden on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues by doing their own preparation and learning (e.g., do the work you can reasonably do yourself, without taking over decisions that are not yours to make). Reflections from the practicum centre on an ongoing process of critically examining own positioning, assumptions and limits, while learning to recognise and respect where authority and accountability sit. This has meant prioritising relationships over solutions, listening before acting, being open to correction and discomfort, and learning when to ask, when to contribute and when to step back and make space for Indigenous authority and leadership.
Participants will be invited to consider practical reflexive questions including:
• How do we recognise the limits of our expertise?
• When are we adding value, and when might we be creating work for others?
• How can professionals contribute without unintentionally taking up space that belongs to others?
• What does relational accountability look like when decision making authority is distributed differently from Eurocentric organisational structures?
The central message is that culturally responsive practice is not necessarily about leading, being in charge or stepping forward. Sometimes it means slowing down, questioning assumptions, understanding where responsibility and authority sit, and knowing when to step up and when to step back.
Rather than focusing on technical expertise, this presentation highlights some of the culturally responsive skills and approaches for non-Indigenous psychologists to participate responsibly within Indigenous-led and governed spaces, including reflexivity, relationship-building, role clarity, accountability and cultural safety. These reflections are linked to PsyBA Professional Competency 3 professional reflexivity, Competency 8 working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and Principle 2 of the Code of Conduct relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety.
This presentation includes reflections about colonial load and how non-Indigenous practitioners can minimise burden on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues by doing their own preparation and learning (e.g., do the work you can reasonably do yourself, without taking over decisions that are not yours to make). Reflections from the practicum centre on an ongoing process of critically examining own positioning, assumptions and limits, while learning to recognise and respect where authority and accountability sit. This has meant prioritising relationships over solutions, listening before acting, being open to correction and discomfort, and learning when to ask, when to contribute and when to step back and make space for Indigenous authority and leadership.
Participants will be invited to consider practical reflexive questions including:
• How do we recognise the limits of our expertise?
• When are we adding value, and when might we be creating work for others?
• How can professionals contribute without unintentionally taking up space that belongs to others?
• What does relational accountability look like when decision making authority is distributed differently from Eurocentric organisational structures?
The central message is that culturally responsive practice is not necessarily about leading, being in charge or stepping forward. Sometimes it means slowing down, questioning assumptions, understanding where responsibility and authority sit, and knowing when to step up and when to step back.
.....
Liz is an experienced Organisational Psychologist and the Director of the Industrial and Organisational Psychology Master’s program at the University of Western Australia. With more than two decades of hands‑on experience, Liz has worked across mining, law enforcement, emergency services, education, planning, health, and the start‑up sector. Her passion lies in designing work environments that enable individuals, teams and organisations to thrive. Liz brings a rare blend of academic leadership, practical expertise and deep insight into how evidence‑based organisational psychology can translate into meaningful, measurable outcomes.
Mr Gregory Lawson
Co-Presenter
3:00 PM - 3:15 PM.....
I am a PhD candidate and Provisional Psychologist currently completing a combined PhD and Master of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at The University of Western Australia. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at UWA and First Class Honours in Psychology at RMIT University. My experience spans teaching, research, stakeholder engagement, and applied project work across university, community, and industry contexts. I have worked across qualitative and quantitative research, academic communication, project coordination, student support, and stakeholder liaison. In addition to my studies, I work as a Lab Demonstrator and support research communication and engagement activities at the Western Australia Road Safety Research Centre (UWA). My broader professional experience includes organisational project roles, case management, career consulting, and community-based support work. I am particularly interested in work design, ADHD, employee wellbeing, and evidence-based approaches that support inclusive, psychologically safe, and high-performing workplaces.
Dr Lisette Kanse
University of Western Australia
Co-Presenter
3:00 PM - 3:15 PM.....
Dr Lisette Kanse is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Course Coordinator of UWA’s Master of and Graduate Certificate in Business Psychology. She has worked as an academic and as a consultant/practitioner in a variety of industrial settings across Europe and Australia, including chemical industry, oil and gas, mining, rail transport, and healthcare settings. Lisette’s mission across her entire working life has been to improve work environments to keep people safe, healthy, engaged, and productive (occasionally extending this to keeping people safe outside of the work environment as well). She uses her dual background in industrial engineering and organisational psychology to identify and facilitate evidence-based improvements, and to warn against ineffective strategies. Her research interests include human factors, work design characteristics, procedures, norms, culture, and leadership, and how these impact on work practice and safety and health.
