Culturally secure community development Fredrik Velander (BSocWk, PhD) Lecturer, School of Humanities & Social Sciences Charles Sturt University Locked Bag 678, Wagga Wagga NSW 2678 Australia Email: fvelander@csu.edu.au Andreia Schineanu (BSc, PhD) Director of Research, Applied Prevention Services 45 Atherton Crescent, Tatton NSW 2650 Australia Email: research_aps@yahoo.com.au Keywords: Aboriginal and Torres Strait I sland, culturally secure, wise practice, community development, health promotion Fredrik Velander is a lecturer and researcher at Charles Sturt University, who has worked with community development in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Australia and overseas. His professional interests lie in the areas of mental health, community development and health promotion and are committed to using wise practice for sustainable change. Andreia Schineanu is the Director of Research for a consultancy firm and is a casual academic staff member at Charles Sturt University. She has a strong research background having worked with population health epidemiology and health promotion in various communities throughout Australia. Her professional interests include women’s mental health, Indigenous community development and strengthening social sciences research using sound theoretical and methodological underpinnings. Abstract This chapter explores community development from a vantage point where culture is essential in empowering communities and unlocking the full potential of self-efficacy for successful and sustainable change. We approach the concept of culturally secure community development from the context of I ndigenous communities across the world; however, for the purposes of this chapter, we have considered the situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. The chapter begins by providing an overview of the current situation of Indigenous populations across the world, and specifically in Australia. Within this context we present a brief overview of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history of colonisation and dispossession and concurrent racism and how they gave rise to the current discrepancy in life expectancies and socio-economic status.