Position Statement 46: The provision of mental health services for asylum seekers and refugees

Research library Framework / guideline

Written by: Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP)
Year: 2024
Place: National
Access: Free

In plain English

The psychiatry college’s position on mental health care for people seeking asylum and refugees. It calls for an end to immigration detention and for care equal to that of the general population, noting very high rates of self-harm among detained children.

Topics

Policy and systems
Refugees and asylum seekers
Trauma

Read the original ↗Back to the library

Link checked by AIDMH on 29 September 2026. Summaries are written by AIDMH to help you decide what to read. Please read the original before quoting it.

Acknowledgement of Country

aidMH pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of Country, and to Elders present and across time.

We stand in solidarity with First Nations Communities, and want to acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. We believe the importance of remembering the rights of First Nations Peoples as Australia’s First Peoples’, irrespective of the fields in which we work.

Everyone is welcome

aidMH is committed to providing safe and inclusive supports, services and spaces for intersectional communities.

Lived experience

We acknowledge those with a lived experience of mental ill-health, substance use and recovery, and the experience of those who have been carers, families, or supporters.

We recognise their vital contribution and value the courage of those who share this unique perspective, for the purpose of learning and growing together to achieve safer outcomes for a culture-oriented and more impactful tomorrow.

aidMH

We are a for‑purpose collective working alongside diverse communities to support mental wellbeing, as defined by communities at the intersections themselves. As a national workforce centre for multicultural mental health, aidMH challenges siloed systems and brings people, resources and knowledge together to help shape systems that build cultural humility and responsiveness.

Instagram
LinkedIn
WhatsApp

Services

Provide lived expertise and advice
Promote training & professional development
Resource and project development
Guest speaking or presentations

Our family of websites

HeartChat
Dumplings Against Depression

Contact Us

Office538A Murray Road
Preston VIC 3072
Via emailconnect@aidmh.org.au
HoursFlexible
Via phonec/o Invictus Health
(03) 9478 1810
LocationNaarm, Australia

If you need help now New

000 Emergency
13 11 14 Lifeline
131 450 Free interpreter (TIS National)
1300 22 4636 Beyond Blue
13 92 76 13YARN, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

More ways to find support

Updated aidMH (Australians for Intersectionality & Diversity in Mental Health) is a Registered Charity Organisation, run by Mental Health of Australia Inc. ABN: 34716206271. View us on the ACNC Charity Register.