By Danielle Kutchel
Australia’s new suicide prevention advisor has hit the ground running, and she’s keen to hear the thoughts of Greater Dandenong residents to better understand what can be done to promote good mental health.
Christine Morgan, chief executive of the National Mental Health Commission, was appointed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the role of Australia’s first national suicide prevention advisor in July.
She’s currently undertaking a tour of the country to hear directly from the community about their experiences with mental health challenges, self-harm and suicide.
Ms Morgan told the Dandenong Journal that she and her team felt it was important to have a conversation with a multicultural community, which led to Dandenong being chosen to host one of the tour’s pitstops.
In a forum on Wednesday 4 September, Ms Morgan is inviting residents to share their thoughts and experiences, to contribute to the building of a new system to address mental health and suicide.
She said some multicultural communities face additional barriers to mental health support.
“A critical one is language. The words ‘mental health’ don’t necessarily translate across cultural groups or it’s not a concept they’re familiar in talking about,” she said.
Cultural mores and understandings of mental illness as well as gender and age divides could also throw up challenges.
For some cultural groups, the frequency of trauma in their past lives, the circumstances of their arrival in Australia and their adoption of a new way of life could also impact on their mental health.
Through an online survey, community consultation and conversations with stakeholders, Ms Morgan said they hope to come up with a vision of a system that will meet everyone’s mental health needs.
Wednesday night’s forum is designed to be a casual conversation, inviting community perspectives, thoughts and ideas.
“We encourage everybody to attend,” Ms Morgan said.
“Mental health is integral to each and every one of us, so the more voices we have the better informed we will be as to the challenges and ideas.”
The Making Connections Town Hall Meeting will be held at The Castle, 61 Princes Highway Dandenong from 5.00pm on Wednesday 4 September. Registration is free and encouraged, via https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/making-connections-town-hall-meeting-dandenong-tickets-67664019905.
If you need to speak to someone, please call Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au. For more information on mental health visit beyondblue.org.au.
