Working with vulnerable people

The ability to access appropriate healthcare is a major component of a person’s enablement. People from CALD backgrounds can face multiple barriers to accessible healthcare, including the following.

• Lack of awareness that a service exists or that it could benefit them.
• Financial - being unable to afford services, or not seeking services because they assume they can’t afford them.
• Lack of transport.
• Mistrust of authority figures including health and medical professionals.
• Feeling intimidated and afraid to access services that do not feel culturally safe.
• Cultural beliefs about disease causes and management, different gender roles, and family involvement in decisions about health.
• Language barriers.

All migrants to Australia should be supported to access information and education about the Australian health system. People are better at looking after their health when they know what healthcare services they can access, what they will cost and where to go for more information

Working with Refugees

People who come to Australia as refugees have complex healthcare needs.

• Compassionate, respectful healthcare can be a significant contributor to re-establishing people’s dignity, self-respect and self-esteem. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians recommends that health services should consistently affirm the dignity of refugees.¹
• Refugees can have high rates of preventable conditions and psychosocial morbidity. They may have had poor access to health services in their home countries and suffer chronic conditions as a consequence of poorly managed acute conditions or injuries.
• The impact of trauma can significantly affect the health of refuges and their ability to access and engage with healthcare. Refugees often suffer trauma from experiences of natural disasters, war, genocide, torture, rape, oppression and loss of family and friends; and the effects may persist in subsequent generations.
  • Read more about the impact of trauma
  • Read more about trauma-informed care and practice in mental health services

Where do Australia’s refugees come from?