The department is:
- investing in sustainable, long-term targeted programs and services that meet unique or complex needs – for example, linked to interrupted access to health care, eligibility barriers, cultural and communication needs, impacts of torture and trauma, and experiences of discrimination, racism, disadvantage and social isolation
- actively engaging multicultural community organisations to design and deliver programs in response to urgent or emerging issues or evidence of health disparities, disadvantage and exclusion experienced by and within multicultural communities
- promoting trusted partnerships and referral pathways between multicultural community organisations, mainstream health services and other support services
- advocating to the Commonwealth, local government and other state departments on insights provided by multicultural community organisations.
Practical resources and supports
- The department’s diversity policy teams including:
- Diversity and Access in Hospitals and Health Services
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Promotion Office
- Annual Victorian Government report in multicultural
- Multicultural health sector partners inAppendix 4 such as Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health, Victorian Refugee Health Network, Refugee Health Program, Refugee Fellows Program, Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Heath, Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria and Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities (ADEC).
Actions we will take
| Flagship initiatives | Timeframe | Lead division |
|---|---|---|
1.1 Implement the $5.9 million 2023–24 State Budget initiative supporting people seeking asylum and refugees including:
| 2023–24 | Hospitals and Health Services |
| 1.2 Extend the mental health uplift response package with more than $2.6 million per annum over two years for multicultural community services including Cabrini Outreach, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Foundation House. | 2023–25 | Mental Health and Wellbeing |
| Other new and continuing actions | Timeframe | Lead division |
|---|---|---|
| 1.3 Implement new fixed-term funding of $60,000 for the Water Well Project in 2023–24 to deliver health literacy and promotion activities. | 2023–24 | Hospitals and Health Services |
| 1.4 Continue the Diverse Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Grants Program into 2023–25, including $4.4 million over two years. Build readiness for a Diverse communities mental health and wellbeing framework and blueprint. | 2023–25 | Mental Health and Wellbeing |
| 1.5 Continue 2023–24 rollout of the women’s health uplift initiative announced in the 2022–23 State Budget, including funding of $1.57 million over two years for the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health. | 2023–24 | Community and Public Health |
1.6 Steward implementation of the Victorian Refugee Health Network strategic plan including strategic priorities:
| 2023–24 | Hospitals and Health Services |
| 1.7 Continue to promote resources and guidance developed by the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health regarding supports available to identify and manage long COVID. | Ongoing | Community and Public Health |
Good practice example: Support for Asylum Seekers budget initiative
Over the past four years, $14.8 million has been provided to help support people seeking asylum who were ineligible for Commonwealth safety net supports, including Medicare and income support. Thousands of people received support in the areas of utilities and homelessness assistance, mental health, clinical care and legal assistance. Each year this included:
- more than 600 hours of primary health care to identify health issues early and prevent hospital admissions
- almost 4,000 hours in mental health support to help people cope with mental health distress
- more than 2,000 people provided with case coordination support
- more than 5,000 people receiving basic needs assistance including for food, medicine, education, infant necessities, housing and clothing
- homelessness assistance provided on more than 5,000 occasions, enabling people to find and maintain employment and connections with health services.
Good practice example: Afghan evacuees’ health response in Victoria
Following the fall of Kabul to Taliban rule, more than 2,700 Afghan evacuees arrived in Victoria between August and December 2021 seeking safety. After departing in distressing circumstances, many evacuees arrived into an escalating COVID-19 pandemic outbreak with significant health needs and very few possessions. Arriving via hotel quarantine in multiple states and territories, high-density short-term accommodation conditions, and delays with Medicare registrations, intensified the health and public health challenges.
In collaboration with refugee health sector partners and settlement services, the Department of Health enabled a rapid and multifaceted health response.
cohealth established a nurse-led outreach clinic in Melbourne city within walking distance of the short-term accommodation in which around 1,500 Afghan evacuees were staying. Within days the clinic was providing health care, advice and referral to a pro-bono GP network and allied health partners, including maternal health, dental and catch-up immunisation services.
Refugee health teams across Melbourne, including from IPC, Monash Health, EACH and Your Community Health, collaborated to create a responsive surge capacity. Collectively, they delivered 1,500 on-arrival health assessments and 2,000 comprehensive refugee health assessments between September 2021 and March 2022.
The department’s COVID-19 testing and vaccination partners delivered pop-up sessions at the short-term accommodation. The department also conducted site assessments and provided infection prevention and other public health advice to settlement services.
The Victorian Refugee Health Network facilitated weekly coordination meetings including logging risks and escalating systemic issues to Commonwealth and Victorian departments.
Foundation House delivered more than 570 assessments and therapeutic interventions to assist individuals and families manage a range of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Foundation House also delivered more than 40 psychoeducation and sector professional development sessions between August 2021 and June 2022, in community languages and in partnership with legal services, to help Afghan community members understand trauma symptoms and signs of mental ill health and to feel better equipped to support their families and communities.
Many individuals and families supported through this initiative reported improvement in mental health and wellbeing, a greater sense of control over previously distressing symptoms, and better connection with family, community and services.
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The department’s diversity policy teams including:
Mental Health and Wellbeing Promotion Office
Annual Victorian Government report in multicultural
Multicultural health organisations and sector partners listed in Appendix 3.
Reviewed 30 May 2024