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Table 1 Practitioners’ demographic, professional, and cultural competency related characteristics (n = 139)

From: White and non-White Australian mental health care practitioners’ desirable responding, cultural competence, and racial/ethnic attitudes

Variable

n (%) or mean (SD)

Demographic characteristics

 Age (in years)

37.3 (11.3)

 Gender

 

  Female

124 (89.2%)

  Male

14 (10.1%)

  Other

1 (0.7%)

 Ethnicity

 

  Asian

19 (13.7%)

  African

4 (2.9%)

  Latin American

6 (4.3%)

  Eastern European

13 (9.4%)

  Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander

5 (3.6%)

  Middle Eastern

4 (2.9%)

  Mediterranean

12 (8.6%)

  White

90 (64.7%)

 Australian Residency Status

  Australian citizen

127 (91.4%)

  Australian permanent resident

3 (2.2%)

  Work visa holder

3 (2.2%)

  Student visa holder

4 (2.9%)

  Other (temporary visa holder and New Zealand citizen)

2 (1.4%)

Professional (cultural competency and other work related) characteristics

 Highest level of education

  Completed postgraduate degree

112 (80.6%)

  Completed university degree

25 (18.0%)

  Not completed degree at university

1 (0.7%)

  Completed high school diploma or equivalent

1 (0.7%)

 Year of obtaining qualification

  Within last 5 years (since 2016)

83 (59.7%)

  Before 5 years

54 (38.8%)

 Participants speaks another language in addition to English

  Yes

47 (33.8%)

  No

92 (66.2%)

 Occupational role

  Clinical psychologist

58 (41.7%)

  Psychologist (general)

36 (25.6%)

  Psychology trainee (provisional)

13 (9.4%)

  Social worker (or trainee)

6 (4.3%)

  Counsellor (or trainee)

7 (2.9%)

  Other (Youth/ Community worker, Health Promotion Officer, Medical student, Psychotherapist/or trainee, Pharmacist, Allied health managers, Occupational therapist, Clinical psychologist registrar, Nurse practitioner and Psychology student)

19 (13.7%)

 Years working in mental health

  0–1 years

19 (13.7%)

  2–5 years

52 (37.4%)

  6–10 years

27 (19.4%)

  11–14 years

12 (8.6%)

  ≥ 15 years

28 (20.1%)

 Type of service

  Private practice

59 (42.4%)

  Public practice

48 (34.5%)

  Both private and public practice

21 (15.1%)

  Other (none, NGO, disability services, project consulting, research, community clinic)

5 (3.6%)

  Both private and other practice

3 (2.2%)

Cultural competency experience variable

 Number of non-White clients per week

  None

9 (6.5%)

  1–3

59 (42.4%)

  4–6

39 (28.1%)

  7–9

16 (11.5%)

  ≥ 10

16 (11.5%)

 Engagement in cultural competence-related workshops, conferences or training since beginning practicing mental health care

  None

25 (18.0%)

  1–3

75 (54.0%)

  4–6

30 (21.6%)

  7–9

3 (2.2%)

  ≥ 10

6 (4.3%)

 Did your professional mental health training sufficiently prepare you to provide culturally competent services for non-White clients

  Agree

71 (51.1%)

  Neutral

18 (12.9%)

  Disagree

50 (36.0%)