Uptake of the culturally appropriate ASQ‐TRAK developmental screening tool in the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander context

Recently in Australia, access to culturally safe developmental practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families has been enhanced by the availability of a culturally appropriate developmental screening tool, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire -Talking about Raising Aboriginal Kids (ASQ-TRAK). This paper aims: (i) To describe the uptake of the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and mainstream services in Australia and (ii) to explore the extent to which organisations using the ASQ-TRAK have engaged training for staff. Methods: A retrospective review of ASQ-TRAK sales and training records from January 2015 to May 2020 to determine the ASQ-TRAK distribution by jurisdiction and service type and the number of services that have engaged training. Results: 500 ASQ-TRAK kits have been distributed across 77 agencies. Of those, 100 kits (20%) have been purchased by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. Most have been distributed in the Northern Territory (178, 36%), Western Australia (165, 33%) and South Australia (64, 13%). Of the 15 ASQ-TRAK training workshops, nine have been in the NT. Of the 196 practitioners trained, 25 were identified as facilitators for their organisation. Conclusion: Despite substantive research translation across Australia, with evidence of its acceptability in different contexts, most Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations have not yet accessed the ASQ-TRAK and most organisations have not participated in training. There is an imperative to progress knowledge translation to improve quality and accessibility of culturally appropriate developmental care. Adequately resourced ASQ-TRAK implementation support is needed to ensure sustainable implementation at scale.