A study based on interviews with 38 veterans from CALD backgrounds about their support needs. It describes racism experienced in the Defence Force and barriers to culturally responsive services, including for mental health.
Topic: Service access and use
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Understanding the mental health and help-seeking behaviours of refugees
A short AIFS research summary using BNLA data. It reports high levels of distress and trauma symptoms among refugees but only about one in five seeking help, usually from family and friends, with stigma, language and cost as barriers.
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Cultural and Linguistic Characteristics of People Using Mental Health Services and Prescription Medications, 2011
Links 2011 Census data with Medicare (MBS) and PBS records to show who uses subsidised mental health services and medicines. People who spoke a language other than English at home were less likely to use Medicare mental health services, and use was especially low among people born in Asian countries.
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Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Final Report Volume 3: Promoting inclusion and addressing inequities (Chapter 21: Responding to the mental health and wellbeing needs of a diverse population)
Volume 3 of the Royal Commission’s final report looks at fairness and inclusion in Victoria’s mental health system. Chapter 21 covers people from culturally diverse backgrounds, refugees, people seeking asylum and LGBTIQ+ people, and leads to Recommendation 34 on a safe, responsive and inclusive system.
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Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia: Towards culturally inclusive service delivery
A national framework that helps mental health and suicide prevention services check and improve how well they serve people from multicultural backgrounds. It is now offered by Embrace as a free, self-paced online tool for services and workers.
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The State of Multicultural Mental Health in Australia: Research Report
A national report on the mental health of people born overseas. It found recent arrivals had the highest rates of mental health conditions among overseas-born people, that access and continuity of care were uneven, and that co-designed, culturally tailored programs work better; it sets six priority areas for action.
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NSW Plan for Healthy Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: 2019–2023 (PD2019_018)
A NSW Health policy directive that sets out how the health system should meet the needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It sets out how the NSW health system should respond to their health needs.
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NSW Refugee Health Plan 2022–2027
The NSW Health plan for improving the health and wellbeing of people from refugee backgrounds. It sets priorities for how the health system should support them.
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Community-based mental health and wellbeing support for refugees: An Evidence Check rapid review
A review, done for NSW Health, of community programs that support refugees’ mental health in Australia and similar countries. It found promising approaches such as group therapy, education programs, physical activity, peer mentoring and school programs, but the evidence was weak because few programs were well evaluated.