About Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC)
The Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC) provides specialist mental health services and programs across Queensland. We work with people of all ages from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
We specialise in understanding culture and mental health and wellbeing and work to ensure that people and their communities receive the right mental health care and support.
Our team of multidisciplinary mental health clinicians, in addition to a casual pool of over 100 bicultural workers, provide culturally specific input and advice.
We receive referrals from individuals, family members or carers, community members, or service providers and organisations.
When we can help
We can help you if the person you are treating or referring is from a CALD background and you need:
- advice about a patient's mental health and wellbeing
- a mental health assessment or interventions
- transcultural mental health training for your staff or service
- specific cultural or multilingual mental health information for a consumer or cultural group you are working with
- advice on developing culturally responsive services and programs
- help organising a workshop on a particular mental health issue in their community.
Download our QTMHC brochure (PDF 4810 kB).
Please use our Referral form (PDF 123 kB) and Consent Form (PDF 26 kB) to refer a patient.
If you are not a health professional, you can find out more about QTMHC for consumers and communities.
Our service objectives
Our services and programs are culturally responsive and trauma-informed. We work to:
- deliver culturally responsive mental health care
- address stigma and build resilience
- build capacity of service providers to be culturally responsive
- strengthen workforce capability.
Framework, policies and publications
Our work is delivered in line with the following policies, guidelines and standards:
- QTMHC Action Plan 2021-2026 (PDF 869 kB)
- Better Care Together: A plan for Queensland's state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drug services to 2027 (PDF, 7.1MB)
- Queensland Health’s Connecting Care to Recovery Plan – A Plan for Queensland’s State funded mental health, alcohol and drug services 2016-2021 (PDF, 3.3MB)
- Multicultural Servicing Strategy
- Multicultural Queensland Charter
- Queensland Government Multicultural Policy and Action Plan
- Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia: Towards culturally inclusive service delivery
- Refugee Health and Wellbeing: A policy and action plan for Queensland 2017-2020 (PDF, 123kB)
- My health, Queensland’s future: Advancing health 2026 (PDF, 123kB)
- Metro South Hospital Health Service Strategic Plan 2015-2019 (PDF, 123kB) (PDF 1527 kB)
Reports and publications
Reports
- A model for CALD consumer participation in mental health - a report on the multicultural consumer and community participation mental health project (PDF, 227.27 KB)
- Stepping out of the shadows - promoting acceptance and inclusion in multicultural communities in Queensland (PDF 1645 kB)
- BRiTA futures program report (PDF 277 kB)
Publications
The following journal articles are the foundation of our approach to building resilience:
- Final report on the development and pilot of the Adolescent BRiTA Futures program (March 2004)
- Mitchelson MR, Erskine HE, Ramirez E, Suleman F, Prasad-Ildes R, Siskind D and Harris M. (2010) BRiTA Futures: A resilience-building program for children and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds - program description and preliminary findings. In Advances in mental health 9(3). December. 243-254. To order a copy of this article, please email qtmhc@health.qld.gov.au.
- Khawaja N, Ramirez E and Prasad-Ildes R. (2013) Building resilience in transcultural adults (BRiTA): Developing a novel preventative intervention. In Advances in Mental Health 11(3): 302-312.
- Khawaja N, Moisuc O and Ramirez E. (2014) Developing an acculturation and resilience scale for use with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. In Australian Psychologist 49: 171-180.
Recommended readings
- Culturally responsive clinical practice: Working with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds (PDF, 1.2MB)
- Clinician reasoning in the use of the cultural formulation to resolve diagnostic uncertainty
- Australian Refugee Practice Guide: Experiences of Torture and Trauma
- Working with refugees - key practice tips for mental health assessment and engagement (PDF 1120 kB)
- Working with Afghan refugees - resources for clinicians (PDF 248 kB)