The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists promotes and advocates for the rights of Māori, Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander people to culturally appropriate, accessible, equitable, and effective psychiatric care. The Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) regulates the cultural competency criteria which New Zealand specialist medical education programs must meet. This includes the RANZCP CPD program, as cultural safety and health equity becomes an increasing key area of focus in the future of mental health. This was a theme in the recent AMC accreditation review of the RANZCP and the CCPD will be working to ensure that these components are more fully reflected in the CPD program.

Further resources

For members in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has a range of documents relating to Māori mental health strategy and statistics on the health of Māori compared with non-Māori. A series of online modules was designed by the Health Quality and Safety Commission New Zealand to encourage learning and understanding bias in health care.

The RANZCP has also developed four online modules relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health which can be accessed via LearnIt (College login required):

• Module 1: Interviewing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander patient
• Module 2: Developing a mental health management plan for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander patient
• Module 3: Formulation of a case involving an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander patient
• Module 4: Review a model of mental health service delivery in an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community

Other resources are available and can be found on the RANZCP website, alongside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy and advocacy documents and other useful links. Further reading on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Health Curriculum Framework can also be found here.