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Fact sheet: Mental health services for CALD communities

Details of currently funded mental health services for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

Fact sheet: Mental health services for CALD communities (PDF 49 KB)

• People from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background have a significantly lower level of access to mental health care and support in the wider community.
• This results in much greater responsibility being placed on family members without adequate support or education.
• The government funds a range of mental health services for people from CALD backgrounds.
• The government has also delivered the nation's largest single investment in mental health spending in the 2011-12 budget and this will provide significant benefits to all Australians, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Mental Health in Multicultural Australia project
Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS)
Program of Assistance for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (PASTT)
Suicide prevention
Support for Day to Day Living in the Community
Establishment of a national mental health online portal
FaHCSIA measures in the 2011-12 budget
- Personal Helpers and Mentors program
- Family Mental Health Support Services
Further information

Mental Health in Multicultural Australia project

• $2.7 million over 3 years has been allocated to Mental Health in Multicultural Australia.
• The government has reviewed and refocused this longstanding project to promote better mental health and wellbeing and to improve awareness of suicide prevention in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
• The refocused project benefits from a consortium which draws together expert bodies on multicultural mental health from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
• The Mental Health in Multicultural Australia project is led by a consortium consisting of: the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC); the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit (VTPU); the Centre for International Mental Health (CIMH) at Melbourne University; and the Mental Health Substance Abuse Research Group, Human Rights and Security Cluster (UniSA).
• The development of the Mental Health in Multicultural Australia project follows an open application process and an independent review of the earlier version of this project. Top of page

Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS)

• The Department of Health and Ageing engages Medicare Locals under the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program to allow GPs to refer patients who have been diagnosed as having a mental disorder of mild to moderate severity to mental health professionals to provide short term focused psychological strategies services.
• ATAPS primarily treats people with common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression.
• A further commitment in the 2011-12 budget provides increased funding of $205.9 million over five years, progressively flowing from 1 July 2011, for ATAPS to target hard to reach groups.
• All ATAPS services are targeted to give priority to population groups which have particular difficulty in accessing mental health treatment in the primary care sector, including people from CALD communities, who are a target group under the program.
• Under ATAPS there is support for service delivery costs associated with clinical services to referred mental health clients. These may include the use of interpreter services.
• A series of GP Mental Health Care Medicare items complement ATAPS and provide a structured framework for GPs to undertake early intervention, assessment and management of patients with mental disorders, as well as providing referral pathways to clinical psychologist and allied mental health service providers. Top of page

Program of Assistance for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (PASTT)

• DoHA administers PASTT which provides specialised mental health services to permanently resettled humanitarian entrants who are experiencing psychological and/or psychosocial difficulties resulting from their pre-migration experiences of torture and trauma.
• PASTT services include:
  • Direct counselling and related support services, including advocacy and referrals to mainstream health and related services to individuals, families and groups who are survivors of torture and trauma
  • Education and training to mainstream health and related service providers
  • Community development and capacity building activities to community groups
  • Rural, regional and remote outreach services to enable survivors of torture and trauma to access support outside metropolitan areas and
  • Provision of resources to support and enhance the capacity of specialist counselling and related support services to deliver effective services and to respond to emerging client needs.
• Agencies delivering PASTT services are all members of a network of specialist rehabilitation agencies that work with survivors of torture and trauma, known as the Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT). There is a FASSTT member agency in each state and territory in Australia.
• FASSTT member agencies are being provided approximately $13.8 million (GST exclusive) in 2012-13 to assist around 6000 survivors of torture and trauma.
• Clients can be referred through a wide range of sources including Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS) administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), other settlement services, general practitioners and other health services, education providers, legal services, community services, family, friends, community members and through self referral. Top of page

Suicide prevention

• The government is currently supporting a number of projects under the National Suicide Prevention Program (NSPP) which include a focus on CALD communities. These include:
  
  
  • The Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma NEXUS project, which aims to improve community awareness to better identify and help young people at risk of suicide and increase the number and quality of connections of young people from refugee backgrounds ($496,791 from 2011-12 to 2012-13)
    
    
  • The Wesley Mission Brisbane Expanded Horizons project, which aims to build individual resilience, support networks and educational engagement in the target groups and raise awareness, acceptance and tolerance in the community and schools ($448,998 from 2011-12 to 2012-13)
    
    
  • The Migrant Resource Centre's Phoenix Centre Suicide Prevention project which aims to build partnerships with and support for key organisations that provide services to CALD groups including planning and training regarding those at risk of suicide ($492,814 from 2011-12 to 2012-13)
    
    
  • The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia Community Broadcasting Suicide Prevention project, which aims to deliver help-seeking and wellbeing messages to a wide and diverse network of communities nationally including Indigenous communities, rural and remote and CALD through satellite and local radio providing 24 hour a day national delivery of suicide and mental health and well-being messages ($750,700 from 2011-12 to 2012-13)
    
    
  • Griffith University's WHO Start project which seeks to investigate preventative interventions across various countries, cultures and population sub-groups within the Asia-Pacific region ($102,716 from 2011-12 to 2012-13).

Support for Day to Day Living in the Community

• The Support for Day to Day Living in the Community program (D2DL) is a structured activity program which aims to improve the quality of life for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, including individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
• This program seeks to increase the ability of clients to participate in social, recreational and educational activities with the aim of living with an optimal level of independence in the community.
• From July 2006 to December 2011, over $40 million was provided to 40 organisations around Australia to provide D2DL services at 60 sites in 49 pre-identified regions. Approximately 11,000 people accessed the program annually.
• The 2011-12 budget provided a further $19.3 million over five years in new funding for existing D2DL providers to support an estimated 3,650 additional people with severe and persistent mental illness per year.
• These expanded services are made available to difficult to reach groups including people from CALD communities.
• The total value of the 3.5 year funding agreements with D2DL providers for the period 1 January 2012 to 30 June 2015 is $49.38 million (GST exclusive).Top of page

Establishment of a national mental health online portal

• The 2011-12 budget provided $14.4 million over five years to help establish a single mental health online portal to enable consumers to more easily identify and access services.
• The mental health online portal mindhealthconnect at www.mindhealthconnect.org.au was launched on 5 July 2012 and will particularly benefit CALD communities given there is often a preference to remain anonymous, many face added levels of stigma, and also may be reluctant or face barriers to using face-to-face services.

FaHCSIA measures in the 2011-12 budget

Personal Helpers and Mentors program

• The 2011-12 budget provided a further $208.3 million over five years to expand and integrate Personal Helpers and Mentors and respite services.
• The expansion will see more people with severe mental illness supported, including the targeting of vulnerable groups like CALD communities.
• This will provide greater access to intensive, one-on-one support for people with persistent and/or episodic mental illness to aid recovery and reduce social isolation, with a focus on employment and educational outcomes.
• It will also provide improved access to respite for their families and carers.

Family Mental Health Support Services

• The 2011-12 budget provided a further $61 million over five years to double the capacity of existing Family Mental Health Support services.
• The expanded services will ensure a specific focus can be placed on vulnerable groups like children from CALD communities.
• This expanded service will also enable wrap around service to be provided in a 'whole of family' approach, ensuring the needs of children, young people, their families and carers are taken into account.
• The services have a particular focus on young carers and vulnerable children, including those who have been identified as being at risk of mental illness.
• This will help over 32,000 vulnerable and at risk children, young people (up to 16 years) and their families. Top of page

Further information

For more information please visit the mental health website at www.health.gov.au/mentalhealth.

Page last reviewed: October 2012