Upholding Dignity Through Connection
ADACAS’s Commitment to Culturally Safe Mental Health Advocacy
Across the ACT and surrounding regions, ADACAS advocates walk alongside people living with mental ill health, listening to their stories, helping them understand their rights, and supporting them to navigate systems that often feel overwhelming. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, wellbeing is deeply connected to community strength, cultural identity, and connection to Country.
These enduring relationships form the foundation for healing, resilience and belonging.
We believe our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples starts with respect. We recognise that mental health is part of a broader concept of social and emotional wellbeing that embraces culture, spirituality, family and community as sources of strength.
When an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person contacts ADACAS about a mental health issue our advocates respond with humility and care. Each conversation begins by listening to what matters most: where a person finds support, what goals they want to achieve, and how they would like to be helped. Advocacy focuses on building confidence and creating space for people to make their own informed choices and can also support healing, recognising that connection, culture and choice are powerful sources of resilience.
ADACAS works in partnership with local organisations, health providers and cultural networks to promote awareness of advocacy and rights, while continuing to learn from First Nations communities about what culturally safe advocacy looks like in practice. These collaborative partnerships with community leaders and Elders are grounded in the shared goal of ensuring advocacy is culturally led and responsive to the needs of community.
Importantly, ADACAS strives to build cultural competence within the team and recognises that creating culturally safe pathways to advocacy is ongoing work built on trust, reflection and shared learning. With support from our dedicated Aboriginal Advocate team member, ADACAS continues to deepen its relationships with community and strengthen its cultural understanding across the organisation. Our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) guides our work and strengthens our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and commits us to listening, learning and acting for long-term, positive change.
In standing beside First Nations peoples through mental health advocacy, ADACAS acknowledges that rights are not abstract, they are lived, shared and strengthened through connection.
