It has long been recognised that Indigenous youth between the ages of 15-24 years are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in contemporary Australian society. There is a plethora of available reports and statistical information gathered over the past 20 years that highlights the perilous situation of Indigenous youth and the specific challenges that confront this group. This article provides a review of the state of our knowledge regarding Indigenous youth with a particular focus upon their mental health needs and their broader social and emotional well-being. This article examines the relevance and potential effectiveness of focused psychological strategies as applied under the Access to Allied Psychological Services program in addressing the needs of Indigenous youth. There is a clear and important role for non-Indigenous psychologists to play in closing the mental health gap, but practitioners need to have at least an adequate degree of cultural competence in order to engage with Indigenous young people, and be able to deliver psychological interventions that are culturally appropriate and safe and consistent with Indigenous world views. This article provides some guidance for non-Indigenous psychologists in working with Indigenous youth.

The Family Court of Australia provides conciliation counselling to couples who are involved in disputes regarding their children following separation. In situations where domestic violence has occurred, the appropriateness of providing counselling to such couples has been seriously questioned This study examines the experience of clients attending counselling at the family court. Two groups of clients are studied—one group who reports domestic violence as a significant issue and a comparison group who does not report domestic violence. The results indicate that the two groups do not differ in their expressed level of satisfaction with the counselling they have received and that both groups consider counselling to have been helpful in resolving their issues. The preliminary results of this study have implications for the provision of postseparation counselling/mediation to couples when domestic violence has occurred.

The Family Court of Australia provides conciliation counselling to couples who are involved in disputes regarding their children following separation. In cases where domestic violence is involved, the appropriateness of providing counselling has been seriously questioned. This study is an extension of earlier work completed by the authors that specifically examined client satisfaction with counselling in cases involving domestic violence. This article examines client and counsellor perceptions of the counselling process and its outcomes.

Family Court of Australia has employed four Aboriginal Family Consultants within the Family Court Mediation Service in Darwin and Alice Springs. The consultants were selected from local indigenous people and assist indigenous families who are often in heated dispute over children following family breakdown and separation. The program ultimately seeks to promote access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Stvait Islander people in the jurisdiction of family law. The program seeks to achieve this by assisting indigenous people to access and utilize the dispute resolution services provided by the Family Court. Family consultants work closely with court mediators in responding to the needs and issues of indigenous families in dispute. The article describes the model of intervention adopted and highlights the benefits of the program with reference to case studies.