Country's first multilingual mental health line will 'break barriers' in Dubbo: Cr Chowdhury

Cr Shibli Chowdhury said the helpline will help "break barriers" within Dubbo's multicultural community as well as new migrants who speak languages other than English.

"I would like to thank the [mental health] minister because I was advocating for this for a long time. It's definitely a good outcome," Cr Chowdhury said.

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Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor on Thursday announced the 'Transcultural Mental Health Line' available Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm on 1800 648 911.

The phone service provides interpreters and mental health clinicians who will cover up to 30 different languages including Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Korean, Vietnamese, Bengali, Swahili and Tongan Tonga.

Pathways for mental health issues ranging from mild to serious cases are available through the new service. A specialist team of health care professionals will provide care and connect people with appropriate services as required.

Cr Chowdhury shared his experiences working as a health counsellor at Dubbo Base Hospital, a role which allowed him to engage with multicultural community members. He observed communication issues between people and hospital staff which he addressed by working with community, the hospital's board and management.

"There was a lot of misunderstanding. People sometimes didn't understand the process of the system, they expect maybe something else and they're getting something else. There was a little bit of an issue there," Cr Chowdhury said.

He was "very confident" the service would close that gap by "mitigating" issues of communication with culturally and linguistically diverse people.

"The best thing is when people can communicate correctly with service providers. If they [are able to] express their issues, they'll always get good service," he said.

"I think this will bring lot of opportunities for our multicultural communities to get the best service from the health system."

More information on multilingual mental health resources can be found on the Transcultural Mental Health Centre website at www.dhi.health.nsw.gov.au/tmhc.

If you, or someone you know, is in a life-threatening situation please seek help immediately by calling 000. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide or experiencing a personal crisis or distress, please call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. The NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 is a 24/7 service that can advise you on appropriate local mental health services for you or a loved one.

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