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September 1, 2026

Building workforce capability to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families

For people working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, understanding social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is an important part of providing culturally safe, respectful and effective support. But how confident are practitioners in their knowledge of SEWB? And how capable do they feel to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in practice?

These are some of the many questions addressed in Emerging Minds’ National Workforce Survey for Child, Parent and Family Mental Health (National Workforce Survey). The National Workforce Survey provides a valuable snapshot of the capability and practice of the health, education, social services and community services sector in relation to children’s mental health. It identifies workforce strengths, learning needs and opportunities.

Held in 2023, our last National Workforce Survey received 3,064 responses from people across more than 50 occupations, including 108 people who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Many practitioners reported that they work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families at least some of the time, indicating this is a core part of practice across many services and organisations. However, they self-rated their capability and confidence in this area as low.

What we found out

The results of the 2023 National Workforce Survey include the following key findings about working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families:

  • There are concerning knowledge gaps in the workforce, particularly in understanding of the National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing.
  • Most professions and sectors struggle with confidence and capability in this work, including occupations that frequently support children’s mental health (e.g. GPs, educators and paediatricians).
  • Practice-related statements were rated with low self-assessed competence, indicating a further disconnect between knowledge and practice.
  • Access to cultural supervision is low, but there is a strong desire for more training and understanding in cultural competence.
  • Respondents who actively use Emerging Minds’ resources are significantly more confident in this area.

The findings also highlight important workforce strengths. Confidence in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families was higher among respondents who:

  • identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander themselves
  • worked in culturally specific roles
  • worked more frequently with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
  • were based in regional and remote locations.

To further explore the 2023 survey findings, Emerging Minds partnered with WellMob to lead the SEWB Workforce Development Project. The project included:

  • an analysis of the 2023 National Workforce Survey findings
  • a roundtable workshop with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, educators and workforce representatives
  • a scoping review of how organisations, services and tools apply SEWB principles
  • an online workshop to review the project findings.

A recently released report, Walking together: Co-created workforce development strategies to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, includes findings and recommendations from this project. Project participants also made recommendations on questions to be asked in the next survey.

Leading on from this work, the 2026 National Workforce Survey will launch on 7 September. Expressions of interest are already open for those who want to be sent a reminder on the date.

Building on the findings from the surveys and the SEWB Workforce Development Project, Emerging Minds will continue to explore workforce gaps and opportunities to support practitioners working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

The artwork on this page was created by Tikana Telfer for Walking together: Co-created workforce development strategies to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. 

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