Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will examine the elements of cultural capability required to practice culturally safe and inclusive midwifery care. You will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of cultural safety through self-reflexivity for culturally safe midwifery care that is free of racism and bias. You will be introduced to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' history and post-colonial experiences to gain an insight into the implications of this for midwifery care, population health, and health care practice. You will gain an understanding of the importance of equitable partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, health professionals, organisations, and the community to provide respectful midwifery practice that is underpinned by cultural safety. Specifically, you will focus on historical and current issues in relation to 'Women's Business', birthing on country, motherhood, and the models of midwifery care available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: MDWF12006 Midwifery Practice 2, MDWF12005 Foundations of Midwifery 2 and MDWF12004 Critical Inquiry and Midwifery Practice Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 3 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Group Discussion | 20% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 3. Case Study | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 3 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 42.86% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE data
I really enjoyed being able to view the video Djakamirr: Caretaker of Pregnancy and Birth. I gained a lot of knowledge and understanding about culture and practice from this and feel that for future students that this would be beneficial to their learning.
This was a valuable resource for the delivery of the unit and will continue to be incorporated into the unit in future offerings.
Building on the positive feedback from the previous year, Djakamirr: Caretaker of Pregnancy and Birth was included as a central resource in 2024. The documentary was embedded into the Group Discussion assessment, which encouraged students to engage more deeply with its content. This approach supported critical reflection and enhanced students’ understanding of cultural practices, aligning closely with the unit’s learning outcomes and broader themes of culturally safe care.
Source: SUTE data
My marker did not appear to be in tune with what the assessment Zoom said. Marks were very wrong and needed a re-check. I was not happy with this marker. I gained nearly 20 marks for things that were already there. New markers not already a lecturer for the Bachelor of Midwifery need to understand and provide clearer and better marking in line with the unit's expectations and information given to us in lectures please.
The unit coordinator and the marker had engaged in multiple conversations about the assessments and expectations for the students. The marker engaged with the Zoom recording which outlined the expectations to the students. The unit coordinator informally reviewed a range of the marked submissions and deemed them to be appropriate. Whilst three students in this unit requested an informal review of grade for their assessment tasks, none was awarded an additional 20 marks as a result. Each of these three students was awarded additional marks, but none received more than 5 additional marks. The unit coordinator will continue to engage with students and address their concerns regarding marking as per the CQUniversity policies.
Building on previous efforts to ensure fairness and clarity in assessment, the unit coordinator was the sole marker for the unit in 2024. This allowed for consistency across marking and direct alignment with assessment expectations discussed in Zoom sessions. Students were provided with tailored resources, including assessment reminders and accessible PowerPoint guides, to support student understanding and engagement. These proactive strategies contributed to a smooth assessment process, and no remarking requests were received during this offering.
Source: SUTE Data
The assignments felt extremely repetitive. The amount of the assignments (including the group discussions) felt overwhelming. It felt like there was always an assignment to do.
It is recommended that the assessment structure be reviewed to ensure clarity, reduce perceived overlap, and improve the balance of workload across the term, while maintaining alignment with learning outcomes and academic standards.
In Progress
Source: SUTE Data
A lot of doubling up of information in association with other units, very repetitive. For the amount of cultural practice we do, this feels over-educated.
Clarifying the role of this unit as a foundational component of the program and explaining how cultural safety knowledge and skills are scaffolded across the midwifery curriculum may help address student perceptions regarding assessment relevance and expectations. This recommendation has been addressed through explicit explanation of each assessment task, including its purpose within the unit and its alignment with learning outcomes. Teaching and unit materials clearly articulate how the assessment supports the development of culturally safe midwifery practice and how these skills and understandings are scaffolded across the broader program and applied in future clinical contexts. This explicit framing supports student understanding of the relevance of the assessment and its importance to professional midwifery practice.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Examine and discuss different forms of racism, the concept of white privilege, one's own positioning in terms of white privilege, and the social determinants of health
- Explore the history and ongoing impact of colonisation and post colonisation experiences upon the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in relation to midwifery practice
- Explore culturally appropriate midwifery practice that integrates respect and equitable partnerships and which promotes contemporary models of midwifery care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their families
- Identify and explore the barriers to equity and equality in healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and explain the impact of culturally safe midwifery care and advocacy on these barriers
- Explore the cultural beliefs and practices that are important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their families and integrate these into culturally safe and appropriate midwifery care.
Draft ANMAC Midwifery Education Standards (2020).
Standard 1: Safety of the public.
Standard 3: Program of study.
Standard 5: Student assessment.
The Nursing and Midwifery Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework (2017).
The NMBA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy.
The NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice (2018).
Standard 1: Promotes health and wellbeing through evidence-based midwifery practice.
Standard 2: Engages in professional relationships and respectful partnerships.
Standard 5: Develops a plan for midwifery practice.
Standard 6: Provides safety and quality in midwifery practice.
The NMBA Code of Conduct for Midwives (2018).
Principle 1: Legal compliance.
Principle 2: Woman-centred practice.
Principle 3: Cultural practice and respectful relationships.
Principle 4: Professional behaviour.
Principle 6: Research in health.
The ICM Code of Ethics (2014).
1. Midwifery relationships.
2. Practice of midwifery.
3. Professional responsibilities of midwives.
4. Advancing midwifery knowledge and practice.
National Safety and Quality Health Care Standards (2017).
Partnering with consumers.
Comprehensive care.
Communicating for safety.
Clinical governance.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Case Study | • | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | • | • |
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
| 3 - Case Study | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||