What are the characteristics of an Aboriginal community liaison worker?
Skills and background To work effectively with the local Aboriginal community, the person providing the liaison must be acceptable to the members of the Indigenous community: the elders, the Aboriginal services and other prominent social figures. The liaison person may or may not be a member of the traditional people of the area, but must be an accepted by the traditional people as a community member, and must also be able to work with other people in the community. Training and formal qualifications Discussion with the advisory group in Dubbo about the desirability of formal qualifications for the worker indicated that this was not a prerequisite, and that communication skills and the ability to work across disparate groups was more important. There was discussion that the opportunity to undertake training was important, but that the worker should decide on that and do so at her own pace. A general grasp of the concept of a preventive service was considered useful but, again, not vita
