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Territory Health Service [must] recognise and acknowledge the consequences … [and] make itcompulsory for all health personnel to attend Aboriginal developed and delivered cross-cultureawareness programs and abide by Aboriginal cultural protocols developed in partnership withAboriginal people (Adams 1996 page 48).Cross-cultural training programs are slowly being introduced in the health sector.While necessary, this training is not sufficient to ensure full respect for and incorporationof Aboriginal values and concepts of health and well-being. Devolution of serviceprovision to Indigenous-controlled organisations will best secure this objective. Theseorganisations should be flexibly funded to utilise community healing expertise and toincorporate a model of health and well-being dictated by the community being served.Coherent policy baseWays Forward presents all Australian governments with a comprehensive andcoherent policy base from which to develop programs and to deliver adequate,appropriate and effective services. Governments are still only in the process ofdeveloping their Indigenous mental health policies or planning for implementation. Theposition described in Tasmania therefore prevails more generally.The current social welfare policies within Tasmania merely seek to patch up identified problems.There is no long term social policy in place. Government response is therefore ad hoc(Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre submission 325 page 8).Adequate resourcesThe Inquiry was told that despite the adoption of the National Aboriginal HealthStrategy in 1990 mental health resources are still grossly inadequate in all jurisdictions. Acomparison might be made between existing Indigenous mental health provision inQueensland Health and the need identified by the Mental Health Branch. In October 1996there were three dedicated professional positions in the State. The Branch identified animmediate need for another nine (a 300% increase) (Queensland Government final submissionpage 15).Services to deal with loss, grief and depression are virtually non-existent.Historically the emphasis has been on major mental illnesses and acute care. The extentof emotional problems caused by the forcible removal policies has only recently beenrevealed and has yet to be fully acknowledged. Even in the relatively well-resourcedNorthern Territory ‘there are not enough psychiatric nurses or mental health professionalsvisiting Aboriginal communities’ (Adams 1996 page 10).There are no support facilities in remote communities for victims of family violence. When anevent like family violence or rape occurs, police interview notes are taken or medicalexamination is completed and the victim is sent home. There is no counselling or debriefing(primary, secondary or tertiary) conducted either for the victim or the family (Adams 1996 page43).