Cultural Safety – Lighthouse Arts

Cultural Safety at Lighthouse Arts

Enabling the ability to be culturally safe includes:

reflecting on one’s own culture, attitudes and beliefs about ‘others’
clear, value free, open and respectful communication
developing trust

being prepared to engage with others in a two-way dialogue where knowledge is shared
understanding the influence of culture shock

Cultural Safety at Lighthouse Arts

The published statements (below) capture how we aspire to conduct ourselves at Lighthouse Arts.

We also ask for your input. Together we will build a home for arts and culture which will benefit the community so, we want everyone to reflect, respond and contribute to building a culture that is safe, value-free, open and respectful.

Read some of the statements below, click on the links that interest you, do your own wide reading and send us a reflection/response. We are keen to hear your thoughts.

Cultural safety is a way of working rather than specific knowledge about cultures.

An important principle of cultural safety is that it doesn’t ask people to focus on the cultural dimensions of any culture other than their own. Instead, cultural safety is primarily about examining our own cultural identities and attitudes, and being open-minded and flexible in our attitudes towards people from cultures other than our own.

Identifying what makes someone else different is simple. Understanding our own culture, and its influence on how we think, feel and behave is much harder.

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Culturally safe practices include actions which recognize and respect the cultural identities of others, and safely meet their needs, expectations and rights. Alternatively, culturally unsafe practices are those that "diminish, demean or disempower the cultural identity and well-being of an individual" (Nursing Council of New Zealand 2002, p. 9).

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