Re-embedding racism in psychology: Indigenising the curriculum in Australian psychology

In this chapter I discuss an important area of curriculum reform occurring in higher education called ‘Indigenising the Curriculum’ which aims to redress the under-representation of Indigenous people in the staff and student university population, and Indigenous knowledge in the university curriculum. This reform has been ongoing for around two decades and, though progress has been slow, there is some optimism that these reforms could create an anti-racism platform upon which we might build socially progressive programs of teaching in psychology. However, there is much to trouble such optimism in the discipline of psychology in Australia. Of concern is Australian psychology’s impoverished understanding of its own history, uncritical adherence to a reconciliation framework and its paternalistic approach to Indigenous issues.