Here you’ll find key national policies and guidelines for multicultural mental health and suicide prevention.
Additional resources are available in our Knowledge Hub.
This guide provides information and practical advice for mental health service providers when working with people from multicultural backgrounds.
The Australian Government’s National Standards for Mental Health Services (2010) recognise the importance of culturally responsive practice.
The Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia has been mapped against these standards.
The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (second edition, 2017) include consideration of diversity in service planning and delivery.
The Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia has been mapped against the current standards.
The Fifth Plan acknowledges the vital role of culture in shaping experiences of mental health and illness. It highlights the importance of tailoring approaches to diverse groups, particularly in areas such as stigma reduction and digital service delivery.
Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have access to various tools and resources to implement mental health reform, including guidance on psychological therapies for underserviced groups like multicultural communities.
The report Reform and System Transformation: A Five-Year Horizon for PHNs supports the adoption of the Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia by PHNs and service providers.
The Multicultural Access and Equity Policy has been developed for Australian Government departments and agencies.
Resources and support to implement the policy are available through the Department of Home Affairs website.
The National Framework for Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Services recognises the importance of culturally responsive care, highlighting it as a key capability in Practice Domain 2 (Person First and Holistic).
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy brings together first-hand evidence provided by people with lived and living experience of suicide, the latest research, and recommendations from existing inquiries and reports.
This Strategy aims to unify the efforts of governments, communities, and service providers to improve suicide prevention outcomes in Australia.
The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan sets out the Australian Government’s commitment to supporting mental health and suicide prevention for all Australians, and responds to the findings of the Productivity Commission Inquiry Report into Mental Health and the National Suicide Prevention Adviser’s Final Advice.
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