Knowledge Hub

'The Guide for Clinicians Working with Interpreters in Healthcare Settings provides evidence-based recommendations for effective communication in the event of doctor-patient language discordance, specifically with regard to engaging and working with interpreters. The Guide has been officially recognised as an Accepted Clinical Resource by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.' (Migrant and Refugee Women's Health Partnership)

This guide was developed by the Migrant and Refugee Women's Health Partnership, 2019.

This Guide to Better Communication with CALD Communities provides you with tools to understand your language needs, so that you know exactly what to look for when sourcing language services. 

This Guide has been developed by Polaron Language Services.

The unique experiences of refugees and humanitarian entrants prior to their arrival in Australia can have a significant impact on their health outcomes. Understanding the health status, health care needs and health service use of humanitarian entrants can provide vital information to inform policies and services for these diverse populations.

This web report presents data on the health outcomes, health service use and causes of death for humanitarian entrants who arrived in Australia from 2000 to 2020.

Web report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2023 | Last updated: 03 Nov 2023 

This guide is for staff in community and clinical services who support people living with mental illness, their families and carers.

Published in Australian Family Physician (AFP) Vol.44, No.3, March 2015 by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

'The How’s Your Haal? (HYH) Project is a youth-driven community initiative that seeks to reignite the conversation about mental health for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) youth in Western Australia (WA). The heart of this project is about creating “brave spaces” for conversation about mental health, both amongst youth in CALD communities, and between CALD Youth, Community Leaders and Service Providers.' (Australian Multicultural Foundation)

This report was produced by the Australian Multicultural Foundation How's Your Haal? Project, 2020.

The literature review outlines the key determining factors that influence the mental health and wellbeing of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. It identifies the enablers and barriers to implementing good practice approaches to improving mental health and wellbeing and provides an outline of the relevant frameworks that have been implemented in Australia. This literature review was written by the Centre for Multicultural Youth for Orygen as part of the Youth Enhanced Services program, National Programs.

Victorian Transcultural Mental Health (VTMH) has created four free online modules. 

• Orientation to cultural responsiveness
• Cultural diversity and assessment 
• Working with interpreters 
• LGBTIQ interest 

Enter the Learning Hub here or use one of the links below to open a specific module. You will be prompted to register or login.

Cultural responsiveness is an integral component of recovery-oriented service delivery and a critical consideration in improving the quality and safety of mental health services.

By Mental Health in Multicultural Australia (MHiMA), 2014

When providing mental health services  to people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities a range of additional risk and protective factors need to be taken into consideration. The factors that are particularly important are migration and acculturation, racial discrimination and equity, language acquisition, and refugee experiences. These factors are inter-related and can exacerbate the likelihood of a mental illness or conversely protect against the development of a mental illness.

By Mental Health in Multicultural Australia (MHiMA), 2014