Culture plays a significantly protective role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ individual, and community lives. 

The purpose of embedding cultural safety at individual and institutional levels in practice and policy is to achieve justice and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across health and human services; preferably, in all life contexts. A critical step to achieving this outcome is developing a shared understanding of cultural safety through high-quality training for all people leading and/or working in health and human services.

This discussion paper reflects on the history of advocacy for cultural safety in Australia, and its promotion and application through cultural safety training and education, including what is currently known about the impact on participants’ knowledge, skills, and subsequent actions. Cultural safety training and education is one of multiple mechanisms needed for embedding cultural safety across systems, policies, programs, and services in the pursuit of health equity and justice. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is fourfold.

1. Outline key developments in the history of cultural safety in Australia.
2. Clarify how cultural safety training and education differs from other types of cultural training.
3. Synthesise existing understandings about cultural safety and cultural safety training and propose a revised set of nationally consistent quality standards for cultural safety training and other supportive actions.
4. Link the focus on cultural safety training standards with other parallel and subsequent mechanisms that are being or can be implemented to embed cultural safety, such as health professional curriculum standards, policy, organisational change strategies, and resources to guide and assess progress with cultural safety organisational change initiatives.