Page 3694 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 November 2022
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mental health and wellbeing. Whether it is the community conversations that are organised by CMCF and the Australia Forum, the mental health first aid workshops delivered by SiTara’s Story, MIEACT’s My Mind, My Voice program which includes videos and podcasts and training for multicultural community members with lived experience, or counselling services in group programs such as those offered by M-Hub and Companion House. All of this work helps the community to understand that mental wellbeing is something we all need to look after in ourselves and those around us.
I also want to highlight the great work that is being done by our first Safe Haven in Belconnen, which opened just a year ago. Safe Haven is a warm and welcoming space where anyone aged 16 years or over can go if they are experiencing distress. The peer mental health workers there are amazingly kind and caring. They have delivered more than 570 sessions of support to 80 people in their first six months of service alone. The fact most people return to the service multiple times shows that it is a place where they feel safe and comfortable to talk. They are open 3 pm to 10 pm Tuesday to Saturday and they are located next to the Belconnen Walk-In Clinic with easy access to buses and car parking.
MR DAVIS: Minister, how are the needs of young people from culturally diverse backgrounds different and how are we supporting their mental health needs?
MS DAVIDSON: Thank you for the question. I think in understanding how their needs are different and how we can best support them, it is always important to go first to people from the multicultural community who can talk to us about their experience.
On Sunday 30 October I attended the “Our Children, Our Future” conference organised by SiTara’s Story to learn specifically about the mental health and wellbeing of young people from culturally diverse backgrounds. It was really wonderful to see SiTara’s Story founder Dr Shamaruh Mirza recently announced as ACT’s Australian of the Year Local Hero for 2023. The speakers at that event talked about the difficulties for young people in our multicultural community who need to be able to walk in two worlds. In addition to all the worries many young people experience about school, starting careers, relationships, climate crisis, economic pressures and family and domestic violence, culturally diverse young people may also be juggling their desire to maintain cultural traditions and values with the lifestyle and cultural norms of the community around them. This sometimes means navigating some difficult conversations with their family who may not always understand what they want to do, or friends who do not share their family’s migrant experience or may not understand how that impacts on family relationships and responsibilities.
Something young people themselves are finding helpful is the MindMap service which you can find at mindmap.act.gov.au or phone 1800 862 111, seven days a week, 11 am to 10 pm. MindMap can help young people and their families to better understand mental health and wellbeing, how to manage their wellbeing, when to seek help and where in Canberra they can do that. It is sometimes difficult to navigate and that is why I want to thank CatholicCare and Marymead for their work in providing youth navigators for the MindMap service who support young people and their families through finding the right service for them.
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