State and National Government policies in Australia increasingly emphasise the need for partnerships and relationships to deliver positive outcomes for First Nations peoples. However, whether these partnerships embody First Nations relational ways of working, or meet the needs and priorities of communities, is not well known. An Aboriginal participatory action research project, grounded in an Aboriginal research methodology, Debakarn, Koorliny Wangkiny, brought together Elders, young people and service providers in Perth, Western Australia, to co-design an ethical decision-making framework. Applying the knowledge and wisdom of Elders, this framework was trialled with three community service organisations to assess the cultural safety of their service provision to Aboriginal people. The findings suggest that this co-designed ethical decision-making framework can be used to implement ethical standards and embed more authentic culturally safe practices and processes by developing meaningful relationships with First Nations People and Communities.
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