Aborigines, colonizers and newcomers : the landscape of transcultural psychiatry research in Australia

The authors present an analysis of transcultural psychiatry research in relation to three main population groups in Australia: Aboriginal Australians, documented immigrants, and refugees. The pioneering reports produced by Western psychiatrists in Aboriginal communities are examined in this article. Additional quantitative and qualitative studies developed with Aboriginal people in the context of a traumatic acculturation process are also reviewed. Subsequently, the authors examine the challenges faced by immigrants with mental disorders in a health care system still unequipped to treat a new array of clinical presentations unfamiliar to the clinical staff. The authors also highlight the development of policies aimed at providing quality mental health care to a mosaic of cultures in an evolving multicultural society. Lastly, the psychiatric manifestations of refugees and asylum seekers are analysed in the context of a series of vulnerabilities and deprivations they have experienced, including basic human rights.