Engagement with Indigenous Communities

Enhancing Therapeutic Engagement with Indigenous Communities Involved in Harmful Sexual Behaviour Across the South Pacific.

After a period of hiatus, ANZATSA is re-emerging with renewed purpose and a clear commitment to supporting practitioners, professionals, and organisations undertaking vital work in reducing harmful sexual behaviours across our region.

We return with a focus that reflects both the breadth and complexity of our field—and there is no more important place to begin than with the communities whose cultural contexts, strengths, and needs have too often been underserved by mainstream therapeutic frameworks.

We warmly invite you to join us for this essential webinar, bringing together practice wisdom at the intersection of trauma, culture, and healing across Australia, New Zealand, and the wider South Pacific.

About the Webinar

This session is designed to help professionals develop practical skills to build respectful, culturally safe, and meaningful therapeutic relationships with Indigenous communities (First Nations, Māori, and Pacific Islander) across the South Pacific.

Reducing harmful sexual behaviours and supporting long-term healing requires thoughtful engagement, genuine cultural humility, and a professional community willing to learn together.

What You’ll Learn

• Impact of Culture & Identity: Deepen your understanding of how cultural history and identity shape therapeutic practice.
• Indigenous Worldviews: Frame and understand harmful sexual behaviour through Indigenous cultural perspectives.
• Culturally Safe Care: Apply foundational principles of culturally safe and trauma-informed care.
• Building Trust: Strengthen relational safety and enhance therapeutic rapport with clients and communities.
• Strengths-Based Practice: Recognize community resilience, protective factors, and local strengths.
• Practical Tools: Acquire practical approaches and tools you can apply immediately in your clinical work.

Presenters

Julie Shelley — ANZATSA Executive
Julie is a proud Kamilaroi woman, a respected Elder in the Western Sydney Aboriginal community, and an experienced Aboriginal clinician with over three decades of experience working alongside Aboriginal families and communities. She draws on her deep cultural knowledge to guide her practice, providing cultural advice and supervision, trauma-informed approaches, and therapeutic responses to harmful sexual behaviour.

Professor. Julia Ioane — ANZATSA Executive
“O le ala i le pule o le tatua.  In order to lead one must service”.

Julia is of Pasifika (Samoan) descent, born and raised in Aotearoa NZ.  She is a professor in clinical psychology at Massey University and registered as a clinical psychologist in NZ and NSW, Australia.  Her clinical practice serves children, youth and their families in child and youth justice that includes harmful sexual behaviour – all are informed by Pasifika and indigenous worldviews. She also holds governance and key advisory roles in the sector while serving indigenous and Pasifika communities.

Leanne Thompson‑Rapira — ANZATSA Executive
“E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā mātāwaka, tēnā koutou katoa.”

Leanne is of Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa, and Ngāti Rangiwewehi descent and acknowledges the many connections ANZATSA holds across Pasifika and Australasia. She is driven by a commitment to strengthening Māori wellbeing outcomes and bringing a Māori cultural perspective that enriches ANZATSA’s vision and practice.

She brings over 10 years of experience delivering therapeutic services for children, young people, and their whānau with concerning or harmful sexual behaviour. In her private practice, Leanne works as a registered sensitive claims provider supporting survivors of sexual abuse, and she has been a dedicated member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) since 2010.

Registration & Pricing

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Important Information for Attendees

On the day of the event: ticket holders should visit this  event page 15minutes prior and simply click “Watch Event Now” to join the live session. You’ll then be directed to a waiting room and provided entry.