Ethics and professionalism: Staff Specialist Interview Questions Australia
Cultural safety, the health service's values and professional conduct. Cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients is now an explicit criterion in many position descriptions and is asked as a definition, a scenario or both.
Updated 26 October 2026
How to answer
Define cultural safety as the patient's experience, not your intention, then give your actions: asking about cultural needs, involving Aboriginal liaison officers, flexibility about family and place of care. Have one example per organisational value. For the impaired colleague, patient safety first, then the process, then mandatory notification if it applies.
Frameworks: ETHICS for dilemmas; STAR for values and cultural safety examples
- ETHICS Establish the facts and capacity, Think through the four pillars and name the tension, Hear the other side fairly, Identify two or three options, Choose a patient centred action with the next step, Safeguard and document. Full guide →
What does cultural safety mean to you, and how would you provide culturally safe care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients?
Define it as the patient's experience, not your intention: care that the person feels is safe and respectful. Then your actions: asking about cultural needs, involving Aboriginal liaison officers, family involvement, flexibility about discharge and place of care. Give one example.
What are this health service's values, and can you give us an example of demonstrating them?
Name the values accurately, then one example per value from your own practice with the outcome. Read the health service's values before the interview; getting them wrong costs more than not knowing them.
Describe a time you witnessed unprofessional behaviour, bullying or harassment at work. What did you do?
Say what you saw, what you did at the time, and what you did afterwards: supporting the person affected, speaking to the person responsible if safe, reporting through the proper channel. If you did nothing at the time, say what you learned.
An Aboriginal patient wants to leave hospital against advice. How do you approach that conversation, and who do you involve?
Find out why, involve the Aboriginal liaison officer early, address what can be addressed (family, food, a smoke, the ward environment), explain the risks plainly, and plan safe follow up if they still leave. Document and do not treat the discharge as a failure of the patient.
A colleague appears to be impaired at work. What are your obligations, and what do you do?
Patient safety first: remove them from clinical work now, with compassion. Then your obligations: the hospital's process and mandatory notification to AHPRA if the impairment risks public safety. Support the colleague and keep it confidential.
A patient with capacity refuses a treatment you believe is in their best interests. How do you proceed?
Confirm capacity, make sure the refusal is informed, explore the reasons, offer alternatives, involve family if the patient wishes, document, and respect the decision. Say how you would leave the door open.
How do you manage professional boundaries and conflicts of interest, including private practice?
Name the boundaries: no private referral of public patients, declared conflicts, no treating family or friends, careful social media conduct. Then how you manage private and public commitments so neither suffers.
How would you make this service more accessible for patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds?
Name a group, say what the barrier is, and propose something practical: interpreter booking, community liaison, flexible clinics, translated materials, data on who is not attending. Say how you would measure the change.