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$3.9 million investment in multicultural mental health

The Australian Government is investing $3.9 million for tailored mental health support for Australians from multicultural backgrounds.

The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Former Minister for Health and Aged Care

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The Turnbull Government is investing $3.9 million for tailored mental health support for Australians from multicultural backgrounds.

The $3.9 million investment over three years will help to ensure that our mental health system reflects and responds well to Australia’s diverse population and that quality and culturally-responsive care is available to everyone when they need it most

Australia’s multicultural community has contributed to the success of our country and this investment reflects the fact that mental health services need to be delivered in culturally-appropriate ways.

Many studies have highlighted that people from culturally diverse backgrounds can face barriers when accessing or attempting to access timely and appropriate mental health care.

These barriers include language limitations, cultural differences between client and clinician and stigma from the differences in cultural explanations and perceptions surrounding mental health.

Pre-migration and post-migration experience or trauma can or also be a barrier to seeking help over mental health.

Mental Health Australia will work with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia, the National Ethnic Disability Alliance and consumer and carer representatives from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to deliver this important work.

This investment will build on the Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia which was developed to help organisations and individual workers evaluate their cultural responsiveness and enhance their delivery of services to CALD communities.

The Turnbull Government is transforming the way mental health care is delivered in Australia. In 2017-18, we will provide an estimated $4.3 billion from the health portfolio for mental health.

The Government’s Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan will create an integrated mental health system across all states and territories, but with services and programs adapted to local needs

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