June 2026 Monthly Literature Search – Cultural Safety and Awareness
This month’s literature search explores how health practitioners can improve access and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through culturally safe healthcare.
Grey literature
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (2020). The National Scheme's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety strategy 2020-2025. Melbourne: Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2023) Cultural safety in health care for Indigenous Australians: monitoring framework, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 26 May 2026.
Field, M. (2026). Indigenous women’s mental health across the life course: a global policy brief for rights-based, culturally safe care. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2025.1691146
Full-text articles
Bennett, J., Booth, K., Bryant, J., & Kennedy, M. (2026). ‘I understand the importance of cultural safety but do not really know enough about how to implement it’: A qualitative exploration of health practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of providing culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and families in neonatal intensive care units. First Nations Health and Wellbeing - The Lowitja Journal, 4, 100120.
Bresnahan, M., & Zhuang, J. (2024). Culturally safe healthcare: changing the lens from provider control to patient agency. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 17(3), 244–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2024.2323856
Clough, B., Fraser, J., Flemington, T., & Power, T. (2025). Implementation and Evaluation of Cultural Safety Initiatives in Australian Hospital Settings: A Scoping Review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 36(3), 279–289.
Elvidge, E., Taylor, S. L., Harvey, K., Thompson, Y., Armao, J., Rogers, G. B., Creighton, A., & Paradies, Y. (2025). Empirical assessment of cultural safety within Australian hospitals highlights the impact of access to Aboriginal hospital liaison officers on the experiences of Aboriginal patients. First Nations Health and Wellbeing - The Lowitja Journal, 3, 100061.
Flemington, T., Fraser, J., Gibbs, C., Shipp, J., Bryant, J., Ryan, A., Wijetilaka, D., Marks, S., Scarcella, M., Tzioumi, D., Ramanathan, S., Clague, L., Hartz, D., Lonne, B., & Lock (Ngiyampaa), M. (2022). The Daalbirrwirr Gamambigu (Safe Children) Model: Embedding Cultural Safety in Child Protection Responses for Australian Aboriginal Children in Hospital Settings. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5381.
Fowler, K., & O’Loughlin, M. (2026). Which Cultural Safety Strategies Are Making a Difference? Exploring Hospital Initiatives for First Nations Peoples in Australia. A Scoping Review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 35(3), 964–1001.
Gibson, M., Rolls, C., Robson, M., Ward, R., Stuart, J., & Lambden, D. (2024). Project Yarn Circle: development and pilot evaluation of a cultural connection suicide prevention program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. Australian Psychologist, 59(6), 508–522.
Gilroy, J., Henningham, M., Meehan, D., Nila, F., McGlone, J., McAtamney, A., Whittaker, K., Brown, B., Varlow, M., & Buchanan, T. (2024). Systematic review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences and supportive care needs associated with cancer. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 523.
Hart, M., Santos, A. dos, Leclair, L., Jones, B., & Ranta, A. (2025). Improving Indigenous Stroke Outcomes by Shifting Our Focus from Health to Cultural Literacy. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 25(1), 3.
McGough, S., Wynaden, D., Gower, S., Duggan, R., & Wilson, R. (2022). There is no health without Cultural Safety: why Cultural Safety matters. Contemporary Nurse, 58(1), 33–42.
Milroy, H., Kashyap, S., Collova, J. R., Platell, M., Gee, G., & Ohan, J. L. (2023). Identifying the key characteristics of a culturally safe mental health service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: A qualitative systematic review protocol. PLOS ONE, 18(1), e0280213. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280213
Moloney, A., & Stuart, L. (2025). Cultural Safety and clinical safety: A symbiotic relationship for improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities’ health outcomes. Contemporary Nurse, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2025.2573155
Ralph, A. P., McGrath, S. Y., Armstrong, E., Herdman, R. M., Ginnivan, L., Lowell, A., Lee, B., Gorham, G., Taylor, S., Hefler, M., & Kerrigan, V. (2023). Improving outcomes for hospitalised First Nations peoples through greater cultural safety and better communication: the Communicate Study Partnership study protocol. Implementation Science, 18(1), 23.
Rame‐Montiel, A. K., Crowshoe, L., Paolucci, E. O., Roach, P., Altabbaa, G., & Henderson, R. (2026). “Don’t shut down, these conversations need to happen”: Indigenous health professionals insights for advancing anti‐racism in health care. Medical Education, 60(6), 625–637.
Roman, J., Na Hoberg, H. L., Ekberg, S., Rogers, J., Combo, M., Henaway, C., Mushin, I., Meuter, R., Burke, K., Spinks, J., Bernardes, C. M., Alchin, D., Surijah, E. A., & Farag, I. (2026). Principles and practices of communicating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples accessing mental health services: A systematic review. First Nations Health and Wellbeing - The Lowitja Journal, 4, 100119.
Tujague, N., & Ryan, K. (2021). Ticking the box of ‘cultural safety’ is not enough: why trauma-informed practice is critical to Indigenous healing. Rural and Remote Health.