Racism, socio-economic disadvantage, trauma and structural barriers are just some of the compounding factors adding to the disproportionate mental health burden felt by multicultural young people in Australia, a new report from Orygen and the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) has found.
The latest in a series of policy publications, the Supporting multicultural young people’s mental health report outlines 11 key actions to better respond to the needs of multicultural young people.
The report highlights how young people with multicultural backgrounds often face multiple challenges, including:
- two in five experiencing education or employment issues;
- one in six facing housing challenges; and,
- one in four facing financial hardship.
Head of Policy at Orygen, Dr David Baker, said that youth mental health services were often fragmented and difficult to navigate. For young people from multicultural backgrounds, these challenges could be heightened due to stigma, cultural differences, and financial or language barriers.
“We know that many of these young people may have English as a second language, or be experiencing social isolation, housing stress or psychological distress, all while trying to access a complicated system under strain,” Dr Baker said.
“Many may also have a history of trauma related to conflicts in their home country, requiring the trauma-informed support that mental health services are rarely set up for.
“Almost half of Australia’s population was either born overseas or has a parent born overseas, so we need to pay attention to the mental health of these young people – it is a commitment to them as individuals, but also to the whole community in Australia.”
The report details 11 actions to address this growing challenge, including:
- supporting social connection initiatives for newly- arrived migrants
- creating integrated, youth-friendly service hubs
- delivering culturally-responsive training to health services
- supporting connections between services through community engagement.
Carmel Guerra OAM, CEO at CMY, said that many of the actions aim to bring together fragmented systems, focus on the unique needs of individuals, and recognise that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to mental health.
“It’s important to remember that multicultural young people are not a homogenous group – they have many different backgrounds, experiences, cultures and challenges to navigate – so we really need to take a personalised approach to mental health support for these young people.
“The report recommends actions such as mandating culturally responsive training across publicly funded health and mental health services, which could go a long way to combatting racism and making multicultural young people feel more safe, welcomed and supported in these spaces.”
Anjalie, Lived Experience Youth Advocate, said her experience of mental health, which began at the age of 10, was transformed with culturally responsive practice.
“Since a young age, I’ve dealt with a system that often doesn’t recognise my culture or the unique impact it has on my experience of mental health. Many things were overlooked in my experience of care.
“While my journey continues, I couldn’t have come so far without being able to work with mental health practitioners that understand my cultural background and context. Not all days are easy, but culturally responsive practice means I have the tools I need to come out stronger.”
The report calls for a collaborative approach across government, community and health services, with actions to better connect services through community engagement, create more integrated and youth-friendly service hubs, and develop navigation tools to help multicultural young people find the support they need.
“With more understanding and better integrated, responsive systems, we can support multicultural young people to thrive, and build fulfilling lives as positive contributors to our society,” Guerra said.