The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has honoured a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic for his presentation on the dangers of viewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health professionals as undervalued “seasonal workers”. 

The program manager of the CSU’s Djirruwang Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health program, Tom Brideson, won the annual Pfizer Non-Psychiatrist Project Presentation Award at the 38th RANZCP Congress held in Tasmania last month. 

In his presentation to psychiatrists from both sides of the Tasman, Mr Brideson stressed the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers to be seen as essential components of the wider health system rather than fulfilling a less worthy role which might be associated with seasonal work.

He created a fictitious psychiatric diagnosis – “Seasonal Work” Syndrome - to highlight issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers, including low wages, limited career opportunities and an expectation that these workers will fix all Aboriginal issues that the service encounters. 

“No other workers in a mental health service have these pressures placed upon them and, therefore, the broader service responsibilities often remain unmet for this population,” said Mr Brideson.

His  presentation, Moving Beyond a “Seasonal Work” Syndrome in Mental Health: Service Responsibilities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Populations complements the RANZCP 2002 position statement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Workforce. It also highlighted the mental health training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being offered by Charles Sturt University through the Djirruwang program.

Offering a Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health), the CSU program aims to create a critical mass of highly skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to deal with mental health problems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 

“The program aims to produce students of high quality with a practical set of mental health skills to address the higher burden of emotional distress experienced within Aboriginal communities,” said Mr Brideson.

The mental health course has achieved this, with CSU being the first Australian university to incorporate the National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce into its curriculum and clinical competency arrangements. 

With a Diploma of Health Science (Mental Health) from CSU and a Bachelor of Arts (Welfare Studies) from the University of Western Sydney, Mr Brideson’s active involvement in Aboriginal mental health dates back to 1993. 

He recently took leave from his position as assistant director of the Social Health Section within the Commonwealth Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health to take up the position with the Djirruwang mental health program at CSU.