Australia is becoming an increasingly multicultural country, with cultural landscapes having changed drastically over the last decade. We see many more immigrants from various backgrounds and with sometimes, drastic reasons for migration, which is likely to affect their mental health and wellbeing. According to the 2016 Census, Nearly half of Australians had either been born overseas or one or both parents had been born overseas. Additionally, more than 300 languages were identified as spoken in Australia (ABS, 2016).
Having this in mind, it is important for the Mental Health sector to provide targeted and appropriate services for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
The Mental Health Foundation Australia believes in outcome-based solutions hence, we have created a Multicultural Mental Health Survey to go out to Australians’ in the community. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about CALD communities in Australia and to prepare recommendations to be sent to Local,
State and Federal levels of Government about what is required in this important area of Multicultural Mental Health.
What is a mental illness?
A mental illness is a health problem that significantly affects how a person feels, thinks, behaves, and interacts with other people. It is diagnosed according to standardised criteria. The term mental disorder is also used to refer to these health problems.
A mental health problem also interferes with how a person thinks, feels, and behaves, but to a lesser extent than a mental illness.
