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Despite assertions in the literature that psychologists adopt culturally inappropriate strategies for working with Indigenous clients, there is little empirical evidence about this. The aim of this study was to document the self-reported experiences of non-Indigenous psychologists working with Indigenous clients, the factors that they felt constrain these interactions, and the clinical, assessment and communication strategies they perceived as effective in Indigenous contexts. Structured interviews were held with 23 psychologists, 18 females and five males, with age groups ranging from 20-30 to 50+. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that participants experienced contradictions between the typical Western white psychologists' ways of interacting with clients, which they had been taught and the typical ways in which relationships are structured in Indigenous communities. The results suggest that the Western model of psychological training does not work very well in Indigenous contexts, and that psychologists working in Indigenous contexts have to work out their own methods on a trial-and-error basis. This points to the need for more systematic cultural competence training. However, there is a lack of research into the effectiveness of psychological intervention from the viewpoints of Indigenous clients themselves.

In this paper we present a critique of two models of multicultural education which currently appear to dominate thinking about the nature and causes of inequality of opportunity and outcome in Australian schools (see, e.g., Galbally, 1978; de Lacey, 1974;Grassby, 1979). These are the compensatory meritocratic model, which emphasises equal access to schooling and contested social mobility through an education which is substantially the same for all children and assumes unidimensional standards of 'excellence'; and the liberal-multicultural model, which proposes parity of esteem for the varied outcomes of many different types of schooling and is founded in the notion of, we suggest, a plural, rather than a multicultural, society. That is to say, a plural society is one in which the differential power of various cultural groups is not considered open to question or to radical change; a multicultural society is one in which the members of any cultural group are not prohibited from obtaining access to power because of their membership of a particular cultural group.On the basis of the critique presented we propose a third model which recognises both similarities and differences among schoolchildren, and overcomes the major weaknesses of the compensatory meritocratic model in taking cognisance of the humanitarian problem of cultural substitution (that is, pedagogical practice which leads to the denigration of one set of culture-specific pupil attitudes, values and beliefs about schooling and the encouragement of the adoption of another), and of the liberal-multicultural model in clarifying the importance, for education, of power structures in the wider society.It is important to acknowledge, as a starting point, that schools and teachers, in isolation from other social institutions (e.g., the economy, the family, religion, political forces) are not able to effect the major societal changes which are demanded by the goals of multiculturalism which, for the purposes of this paper we take to be the provision of equal access to the means of obtaining political, economic and social power regardless of ethnic background. This is particularly true of the modification of attitudes in children, attitudes which are developed and sustained by a wide variety of influences, of which the school is only one (and, possibly, a relatively insignificant one). Accordingly, we confine our comments to those aspects of teaching and teacher education which deal with the impact of cognitive factors rather than

This article discusses a successful evidence-based strategy for embedding teaching of cultural competence in relation to Indigenous Australians within undergraduate psychology. A multistage project commencing in 2004 led to the development of new courses in psychology, and subsequently to curriculum guidelines to assist other lecturers in developing such courses. The authors describe the model of cultural competence that underpins these courses, arguing that its principles are equally applicable to working in diverse cultural contexts, not just with Indigenous Australians. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and suggests that students can generalise the knowledge and skills learned in Indigenous-related courses to interacting and working with people from other cultural contexts.

Is compensatory education based on the cultural deficitlearly intervention model an effective means of alleviating minority group failure in schools, or is it a form of racism disguised under the cloak of social welfare ? It is argued that attributing failure to environmental factors located in the home is not necessarily less racist than attributing failure to genetic deficit, when the assumptions, underlying these two models of failure are considered. Furthermore. whether an environmental or genetic model is assumed, the cause of failure is located within the family and seldom is the contribution of the school seriously considered. It is argued that the school contributes to failure through destruction of identity with, and respect for, minority group cultures and by early socialization into a European value system. Insofar as this subtle racism exists in the present school system it is argued that it should not be extended to the pre-school level but rather should be abandoned a t all levels. Some ways in which this might be achieved are discussed.