The mental health of indigenous Australians : inequities and new directions

![CDATA[Psychological research exploring the notions of mental health can be drawn from a wide array of traditional theoretical perspectives, yet with this diversity of theoretical foundations, complications have arisen as to the specific nature of mental health itself. Various positions have embraced notions of mental disorders, mental illness, mental problems and psychological wellbeing, all of which are conceptually differing notions. This difficulty in pinpointing the nature of mental health becomes even more crucial as an increasing number of cross-cultural studies highlight the inequities faced by minority groups with regard to mental health standards around the world. Within Australia, the most disadvantaged population across all life indicators are Indigenous Australians and recent research has shown that trends in the mental health status of Indigenous Australians unfortunately conforms with regard to the multitude of other inequities they are forced to endure. The focus of this paper shall be to review recent research examining the inequities suffered by Indigenous Australians, with a close regard given to mental health issues and future directions in addressing inequities in mental health.]]