The Mental Health Complaints Commissioner today announced the launch of new multicultural resources aimed at addressing the unique mental health needs of diverse communities in Victoria.
Assistant Commissioner, Lived Experience and Engagement, Maggie Toko said the project has been co-produced with people with lived experience from multicultural and migrant communities in Victoria.
"We recognize that individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds often face unique challenges when it comes to mental health, and it's important that we take steps to address these issues," said Maggie Toko, Assistant Commissioner, Lived Experience, MHCC.
"We want to ensure that all members of our community have access to the support they need to feel safe to make a complaint if they have any concerns about a Victorian public mental health service. The importance of language access in mental health care cannot be overestimated."
The project is built on the perspectives and needs of linguistically diverse community members with lived and living experience of mental health issues and distress regarding the unique challenges, stigma and barriers faced by them in accessing mental health services and exercising their right to complain.
The initiative is aimed at improving access to MHCC’s services, building awareness of the right to complain, as well as informing communities of MHCC’s free interpretation and translation services for making complaints in languages other than English.
Community member and Chair of the MARG Foundation Deepa Gupta said working with the MHCC on issues from the multicultural perspective was an eye opening and truly collaborative project.
“The process of working alongside the MHCC and other community members to develop a deeper understanding of the complexities of the issues surrounding mental health complaints has been a very rewarding and fulfilling experience,” said Deepa Gupta.
The project will provide culturally sensitive educational materials including videos and written resources in 20 different languages specifically tailored to those communities to ensure that members of these communities are aware of the services available to them.
All translated materials have been community approved, meaning the translations have been approved by ethno-specific community organisations to ensure that the translations are culturally and linguistically appropriate for their communities.
The MHCC is committed to providing equal access to its services for all members of the community and this project is an important step towards achieving that goal.
For more information about the resources or to make a complaint, please email info@mhcc.vic.gov.au or call 1800 246 054.
Reviewed 01 March 2023