Why is mental health service use so low among culturally diverse young people in Australia?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-05-23 03:00

Australia; NSW

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

There are wide-ranging challenges and low mental health service utilisation amongst culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) young people in Australia, according to new research. The study looked at 15 previous studies to try and find the overarching barriers CALD young people face when accessing mental health services. They found there were significant concerns about the cultural responsiveness of mental health services, including their capacity to understand the experiences of CALD youth. The authors say that respecting young people's preference to involve parents, adopting community-integrated approaches and providing culturally responsive psychological and practical support are crucial to enhance mental health access and engagement.

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Journal/
conference: Australian Journal of Social Issues

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of New South Wales

Funder: This work was supported by the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, University of New South Wales Sydney under the ADA Research Fellow Scheme awarded to Dr. Abner Poon.

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