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Need For TICP Approach in Human Services



The Productivity Commission (2016) was tasked with preparing a report examining the potential for increased efficiency in human services through competition and user choice, following directives from then Treasurer Scott Morrison. The subsequent stresses, tragedies, and financial ramifications associated with the Robodebt scheme highlight the need for integrating trauma-informed frameworks and policies across the social sector (RANZP, 2023; Human Rights Commission, 2024).


The Commission did not consider trauma-informed care and practice (TICP) as a strategy to alleviate service burdens, reduce worker burnout, mitigate secondary (vicarious) trauma, or improve individual outcomes and national productivity (Productivity Commission, 2020; Bateman et al., 2014).


Robodebt cost taxpayers over half a billion dollars for implementation, with additional compensation costs resulting from a class action amounting to twice this figure (Henriques-Gomes, 2021). The Royal Commission confirmed that Robodebt was "a crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal… people were traumatised," labelling it "a costly failure of public administration in both human and economic terms" (Albanese, 2023). The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) recommended that Services Australia adopt trauma-informed approaches for managing claims from individuals reporting mental health conditions and First Nations people (guided by lived experience), and that trauma-informed practice be integrated into training, recruitment, and funding (RANZCP, 2023).


According to Kezelman (2021), TICP is a strengths-oriented framework grounded in core principles: safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and respect for diversity. It emphasises the principle of “do no harm,” highlighting the importance of avoiding re-traumatisation and refraining from attributing blame for trauma responses. Instead, TICP promotes a message of hope and optimism about the potential for recovery. In this framework, trauma survivors are recognised as “unique individuals who have experienced extremely abnormal situations” and managing their circumstances as best they can (Kezelman, 2021).


This approach shifts the focus from diagnostic labels to understanding the experiences of trauma survivors, recognising emotional, relational, and physical symptoms that are often overlooked (Kezelman & Stavropoulos, 2019). To implement best practices for working with trauma survivors (Evans & Coccoma, 2014), comprehensive policy reforms are necessary (see Bateman et al., 2014; Wall et al., 2016; McNaughton et al., 2022). While TICP has gained international momentum since the mid-1990s, health and human service practitioners in Australia have been slow to adapt (McNaughton et al., 2022; Bateman et al., 2014).


Recognising the traumatic impact of adverse events and understanding the connections between trauma and mental health challenges are essential for creating safe, recovery-oriented environments (McLaughlan, 2024). This approach emphasises the importance of engagement and responsiveness at all stages of service provision, as well as the context in which services are delivered (Kezelman & Stavropoulos, 2019). Trauma specialists argue that without this paradigm shift, evidence-based treatments are less effective (Kezelman & Stavropoulos, 2019).


A significant number of trauma survivors encounter compounding stressors that can be attributed to complex trauma (McLaughlan, 2024; Kezelman, 2021). Multiple traumatic stressors, especially those occurring in childhood, exhibit strong bidirectional associations with poverty and unemployment (Bendall et al., 2018), mental illness and poor health (Benjamin et al., 2019), homelessness (Cash et al., 2014), family and domestic violence (Wall et al., 2016), incarceration (McLachlan, 2024), disability (Rossiter & Rinaldi, 2019), addictions (Maté, 2019), and substance abuse (SAMHSA, 2014).


Not all individuals exposed to adverse events develop mental illness or stress-related disorders; some may experience post-traumatic growth. This variance is likely determined by access to social supports and resources that mitigate risk and buffer the impact of trauma (Bateman et al., 2014; Van der Kolk, 2020). Colonisation and collective intergenerational trauma, however, present numerous intersections (Tujague & Ryan, 2021).


Human service departments, while striving for cultural sensitivity, often lack the capacity to holistically address the needs of First Nations without a TICP framework (Tujague & Ryan, 2021; Donaldson, 2018). Child and welfare services acknowledge inadequacy in addressing trauma intersections, including those from war and natural disasters, despite domestic violence, abuse, and neglect being key drivers of the service (Wall et al., 2016).


Please refer to part 2 to continue...




References Cited

 
 
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