Welcome to the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership
July 26, 2022
Introducing the MRHP newsletter
In this newsletter, you will hear from the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership about developments in the migrant and refugee healthcare sector. As a peak body for multicultural health in Australia, we seek to communicate with our Council members, members of the health and care workforce, health service organisations, peak professional bodies, community organisations with an interest in multicultural health, governments and those engaging with the healthcare system.
Stay tuned for regular updates on:
- Migrant and refugee health-related news from Australia and around the world
- Publications and policy papers
- Opportunities for collaboration
- Upcoming events
Meet our new Council members
A new term of the Partnership Council commenced in late 2021. You can read more about the Chair and Council members on our website here. We are proud to have representatives from across peak professional and community organisations to provide a wealth of knowledge and drive the strategic direction of the Partnership. We look forward to working with all the members of the Partnership Council to continue providing policy advice and expertise to the Australian health care sector. The Partnership Secretariat can be contacted at secretariat@culturaldiversityhealth.org.au.
Policy and academic papers
The Partnership is pleased to announce the publication of our latest Policy Brief. Bilingual and bicultural health and care workers are uniquely placed to provide culturally responsive health and care services for diverse populations within Australia. In our Brief, we discuss the challenges and opportunities that have emerged within the context of Australia's health and care workforce. We wish to thank all of the professionals and community members who contributed to this project.
"Ripple effects: integrating international medical graduates into the health system in Australia." (2021)
Authors: Mercy Moraa Nyanchoga, Donata Sackey, Rebecca Farley, Rachel Claydon, Bryan Mukandi
This Practice paper offers a series of reflections by administrative and medical staff members of Mater Refugee Health (MRH), an urban, Australian refugee health service, on their Observership Program. It challenges the idea that 'refugee health' is provided only by health professionals from the host country, and details the advantages of recruiting and collaborating with health practitioners from refugee backgrounds.
You can view the article in the BMJ Global Health Journal through their website.
Funding announcements
The Primary Health Care 10-Year Plan
The Australian Government is investing $3.9 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to improve access to allied health services in the next tranche of allied health reform activities under the Primary Health Care 10-Year Plan. This includes $2 million to ensure that privately employed allied health care providers can access the Australian Government’s Free Interpreting Services (FIS) to support services to patients with low English proficiency. In explaining the importance of this investment, the budget papers noted evidence from the Partnership and Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) found that 25% of all interpreting services provided to patients were not by a qualified interpreter. Deferring or avoiding necessary allied health care because of language barriers leads to poorer health and economic outcomes, especially in areas of high migrant and/or CALD settlement.
WHO Publications
Strengthening COVID-19 vaccine demand and update in refugees and migrants
The Partnership participated in a series of consultations with the World Health Organization to share lessons from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to refugees and migrants within the Australian context. The Partnership provided expertise on building trust with migrant and refugee communities, developing in-language and culturally appropriate health messaging, and examining culturally informed reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The WHO Operation Guide was developed to “provide practical support, strategies and good practices for understanding and addressing personal, social and practical barriers to COVID-19 vaccines among refugee and migrant populations, acknowledging that they may face a range of unique barriers to accessing immunization systems that need to be better considered by policy-makers and planners.” You can read the Guide on the WHO Publications Portal.
Launch of the World report on the health of refugees and migrants
The World Health Organization has launched the first World report on the health of refugees and migrants, presenting the global evidence available on the health challenges faced by refugees and migrants along their journeys and in the host country, and unpacking the health status of these populations worldwide. The Report identifies trends, gaps, and practices in protecting and promoting the health of refugees and migrants and spotlights factors and actions that can shape and improve their health and well-being. The Partnership welcomes the WHO's consolidation of global evidence and hopes the World report will be a useful tool for both policy-makers and migrant and refugee advocates.
We are excited to announce that the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership is now auspiced by the Social Policy Group (SPG)
Formerly Migration Council Australia. The Social Policy Group is a national body with specialist expertise in social policy and program design with a focus on population diversity, social and community cohesion, gender equality, community participation and inclusion, systems’ responsiveness, and Subscribe Past Issues Translate community outreach and engagement. You can learn more about the Social Policy Group on their website: www.socialpolicy.org.au. The Partnership is committed to its core remit to support migrant and refugee communities through the development of culturally competent knowledge and expertise in the Australian healthcare system. We are still available through secretariat@culturaldiversityhealth.org.au.
Calls for submissions, collaboration, or expressions of interest
The Partnership welcomes contributions from health professionals and people with lived experience with an interest in our current projects. Let us know if you’d like to collaborate with us: secretariat@culturaldiversityhealth.org.au.
- Experiences of Telehealth for migrant and refugee communities.
- Awareness of the factors that contribute to stillbirth. We wish to talk to CALD individuals who have given birth, experienced stillbirth, planning a pregnancy, or are supporting a pregnant person.
- Awareness of organ donation in CALD communities, including knowledge of DonateLife and the Organ Donor Register. We are especially interested in any cultural attitudes that inform a person's willingness to donate their organs.