Health practitioners working with Aboriginal people will be able to move from screening at-risk clients directly into culturally informed interviews and treatment planning online.
A digital expansion of the Westerman Aboriginal Symptom Checklist (WASC), developed by renowned psychologist and Nyamal woman Dr Tracy Westerman AM, means screening tools for Aboriginal youth and adults are now available digitally, as are two new clinical products to help practitioners translate assessment results into culturally appropriate intervention.
The expansion brings the WASC-Y for young people aged 13-17 and WASC-A for adults online, allowing practitioners working with Aboriginal clients to conduct screening using a phone.
The digital platform also includes audio-supported accessibility features for people with limited literacy or numeracy, or who have disability support needs.
Two new companion tools - a culturally informed treatment plan and culturally informed guided interview - extend the system beyond identifying risk and into intervention.
The treatment planning tool automatically generates a tailored plan from WASC results, providing practitioners with structured clinical recommendations, culturally informed treatment pathways and editable reports to guide ongoing therapeutic care.
The guided interview tool provides culturally informed prompts based on a client's responses, together with procedural guidance around risk assessment, cultural interviewing and support for practitioners conducting difficult conversations with people identified as being at high risk.
Dr Westerman said taking the system online would make culturally informed assessment and treatment more accessible to practitioners working with Aboriginal people.
"This means you can screen an Aboriginal person for risk just with access to your phone," Dr Westerman said.
"The WASCY/A provides the assessment and the digital products walk you through a culturally informed interview and treatment plan."
Developed initially through Dr Westerman's PhD research in 2003, the WASC-Y and subsequent adult instrument were created specifically for Indigenous populations.
The assessments identify risks including depression, suicidal behaviours, alcohol and drug use, impulsivity and anxiety, while also measuring cultural resilience as a potential protective factor.
The WASC instruments are culturally co-designed and scientifically validated psychological assessment tools developed specifically for Indigenous youth and adults.
The WASC-Y has since been validated with more than 1,200 Aboriginal young people, while the broader WASC framework has contributed to early intervention screening, culturally informed treatment and community-level suicide prevention programs.
The digital rollout is being complemented by national training workshops led by Dr Westerman, providing health and mental health practitioners with training and accreditation in the WASC youth and adult screening tools.
More than 50,000 practitioners have attended the workshops, which cover suicide risk, racial and intergenerational trauma, culturally informed engagement and assessment, cultural identity and resilience, and recognising culturally specific presentations of psychological distress.
The training also examines the potential consequences of misdiagnosis, including differentiating depression from culturally specific experiences such as longing for Country, and distinguishing spiritual experiences from symptoms that may otherwise be interpreted through a conventional clinical framework.
"The workshops provide practical, culturally informed therapeutic, assessment and intervention strategies that can be applied immediately with high-risk Aboriginal people," Dr Westerman said.
