News
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) – Information
The following information can be found on this page. Click on the links below to jump to each section:
- Translated Resources
- Other video/easy English/pictorial resources for community
- Government Information
- Services and support
- Resources to manage mental wellbeing
- Other Information – COVID-19
- Multicultural Communities Zoom Webinar notes 29 July 2020
Translated Resources
Queensland Resources
- Queensland Health – Information for multicultural communities – coronavirus (COVID-19)
- QACC Radio – Audio messages in some African languages
- Refugee Health Network Qld – Audio messages in some languages
- Queensland Government – Domestic and Family Violence translated resources
Federal
- Australian Government Department of Health – Use language search function on left
- Department of Home Affairs
Other information
- Health Translations– lists resources by language and regularly updated.
- Humans Like Us– Videos and resources in 35 languages
- SBS online portal provides information in 63 languages
- CORONAVIRUS explained in your language– SBS (51 languages)
- Australian Red Cross
- NSW Government Department of Health
- AMES Australia (videos in many languages)
- CHC Pediatric Refugee Clinic (AZ) – videos in ten languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, French, Karen, Kirundi, Maay Maay, Somali, Swahili) with basic COVID-19 information
- Culture Orientation Resource Exchange – videos in multiples languages
- NDIS and disaster response – Translated Resources
- Aged Care and Health Translations
- Developed by Catholic Care – Audio information in Kurdish Kurmanji language about COVID-19.
- Rohingya – Washing hands video (subtitles in English) – UNICEF
- Advice on managing distress – Red Cross information for communities after a distressing event, in 7 languages.
- Tzu Chi Australia – provide daily updates on the situation of Coronavirus in Australia in English and Chinese.
Please be mindful that some resources developed by other states have state-specific information.
Other video/easy English/pictorial resources for community
- Easy English COVID 19 Resources – from Access Easy English
- How to protect yourself against COVID-19 – World Health Organization (video)
- Food and healthy eating during COVID-19 – Metro South Health (English and pictorial)
- A one-stop shop for Queenslanders www.covid19.qld.gov.au
- COVID-19 information for Queensland clinicians – Qld Health
- For Government updates, refer to Queensland Health and Federal Health Department
- Department of Social Services – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and support
- Department of Home Affairs (For travel restrictions and visa related information)
- Australian Government portal (For the latest updates and advice from government agencies across Australia)
Services and support
- If you are concerned – For health advice, including on over-the-phone nurse assessment of your symptoms call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84). If you require translating or interpreting services, call 131 450.
- Multicultural Connect Line – A Queensland-wide service for people from multicultural backgrounds whose lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ph. 1300 079 020
- If you are in quarantine and need help with delivery of essential food and medications, please call the Queensland Community Recovery hotline on 1800 173 349
- Health Direct Coronavirus hub
- Coronavirus response: Resources for families
Resources to manage mental well being and COVID-19
- Mental health support for COVID-19 – A dedicated page with links to mental health supports.
- Supporting and reassuring children around the world – By Mind Heart in several languages (This short book was created to support and reassure our children under the age of 7, regarding COVID-19).
- Head to Health
- Advice on managing distress – Information from the Australian Red Cross for communities, parents and caregivers after a distressing event, available in seven languages. Download here.
- FACE COVID – How To Respond Effectively To The Corona Crisis – a video by Dr. Russ Harris – Acceptance Commitment Therapy
- How to work with anxiety during COVID 19 – video from the NICABM (National Institue for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine)
- Relaxation videos for African communities in language:
- Podcasts for children – ABC Coronacast
Other Information – COVID-19
- Health Literacy Insights for Health Crises Kim Parson, Humana; Marin P. Allen, PhD, National Institutes of Health; Wilma Alvarado-Little, MA, MSW, Alvarado-Little Consulting; Rima Rudd, ScD, MSPH, Harvard School of Public Health July 17, 2017
Queensland Multicultural Health Action Plans and Reports
- Refugee Health and Wellbeing: A policy and action plan for Queensland 2017-2020. 2018-2019 Progress Report (Jan 2020).
- First Progress Report on the Qld Multicultural Policy
- Qld Multicultural Action Plan 2019-20 to 2021-22
- Queensland Multicultural Action Plan Queensland Health Annual Report 2018-19
Investing in Refugees – Investing in Australia
The findings of a Review into Integration, Employment and Settlement Outcomes for Refugees and Humanitarian Entrants in Australia (Feb 2019) – Peter Shergold, Kerrin Benson and Margaret Piper. Read the Report and the Government’s response to the report here.
Refugee Health and Wellbeing Policy & Action Plan: Baseline Evaluation Findings – Download the POSTER here.
April 2019 – 10th Anniversary of the Refugee Health Network of Australia (RHeaNA)
Christine Phillips, Chair of the Refugee Health Network of Australia (RHeaNA) has shared the following communiqué:
On the 29 March 2019, on the sidelines of the 2nd Australia and New Zealand Refugee Trauma and Resettlement Conference in Brisbane, a small group of dedicated clinicians, managers and policy officers, gathered to mark an important milestone, the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Refugee Health Network of Australia (RHeaNA).
RHeaNA evolved organically from informal collegiate and advocacy groups and communities to become the leading refugee health advisory network in Australia. Its members are drawn from across the refugees health space and include refugee nurses, GPs, Paediatricians, managers and policy officers.
Without formal funding or administrative infrastructure, RHeaNA has contributed to the creation of refugee health guidelines, provided formal input into many committees, working groups and research, as well as providing specialist refugee health advice to state and Commonwealth government, whilst continuing to be a community of practice for refugee health care providers.
Collectively, RHeaNA members have provided health and social care to thousands of people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds in all states and territories of Australia. We have been witnesses to the challenges our patients and their families face as they build new lives in Australia.
While access to quality health care is a fundamental determinant to achieve equitable outcomes, we believe that the attitude of governments and ordinary Australians is also an important determinant for successful refugee resettlement and social cohesion. Sadly, over the past 20 years we have observed that our country has become a more closed society, fearful of the “other”, actively excluding and marginalising particular emerging communities.
People from refugee backgrounds are survivors. They have a positive cultural, economic, and social impact on our country and add to the rich fabric of modern Australia. On this day, when our friends and colleagues in New Zealand gather to mourn the tragedy in Christchurch, we call on all Australians to extend a hand of welcome and friendship to people from refugee backgrounds. We believe that fostering a culture of hope, safety and inclusivity in Australia is fundamental to good health, integration and belonging; so that people from refugee backgrounds feel truly a part of us!
For more information: www.refugeehealthaustralia.org
This summary highlights humanitarian arrivals in Queensland, and the progress in the activities outlined in the Refugee Health and Wellbeing policy and action plan for Queensland 2017 to 2020 for the time period April 2017 to March 2018. Read the Snapshot of the Annual Progress Report 2018
A full report has been prepared by the Refugee Health Network Queensland team with input from the partner organisations who are leading the activities outlined in the plan and can be accessed online HERE.
Best Poster Award at International Hospital Congress Oct, 2018
Congratulations to the teams at Metro South Refugee Health, Mater Integrated Refugee Health Service, Brisbane South PHN in partnership with ACCESS Community Services who received the best poster award for their poster ‘Responding to the Syrian & Iraqi Crisis – A Local Refugee Health Partnership to Build an Integrated Care Response’ at the 42nd World Hospital Congress 2018.
Refugee Health Showcase 2018
Refugee Health Showcase 2018Held on the 27th March at Hotel Jen, Brisbane, the Showcase was opened with a beautiful song and talk by Songwoman Maroochy. This was then followed by speakers including Donata Sackey (Chair, Refugee Health Partnership Advisory Group Queensland), Michael Walsh (Director-General, Department of Health), Magdalena Kuyang (QPASTT), Associate Professor Christine Phillips (ANU), Jennie Hughes (SBS) and Sonia Caton (Immigration lawyer, law lecturer and board director). View their presentations and more here.
The full report for the Refugee Health Network Qld will be available in late 2018.
Refugee Health and Wellbeing: Policy and Action Plan launched
Representatives of the Health Advisory Group meet with the Hon. Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services (MP) at the Launch (April 2017).
(L-R) Sara Yousif, Hon. Cameron Dick, Alie Kenneh, Michel Ghazal)
A new action plan to improve access to health services for refugees was launched as part of the Refugee Health and Wellbeing Showcase held in April 2017.
Refugee Health and Wellbeing: A Policy and Action Plan for Queensland 2017–2020
Refugee Health Snapshot in Queensland – April 2017
Other Presentations delivered on the day:
- Refugee Health Network Qld Launch – Donata Sackey, Deputy Director Centre for Integrated Care & Innovation and Vicky Jacobson, Network Coordinator
- Victorian Refugee Health Network Presentation – Lindy Marlow (State Wide Facilitator Refugee Health Program – Victoria)
- Refugee Health Network Qld Roundtable Discussion – Donata Sackey, Deputy Director Centre for Integrated Care & Innovation and Vicky Jacobson, Network Coordinator
July, 2017 Asylum seekers given access to public healthcare in Queensland
The Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services, The Honourable Cameron Dick announced that the Queensland Government has approved providing vulnerable Medicare-ineligible asylum seekers with access to public health services at no charge. See the full media statement here
April 26 2017
Members of the Health Advisory Group from the Mater presented about the program to Managers at St Vincent’s Hospital. The Greater Brisbane Health Advisory Group is a great partnership between the Mater and St Vincent’s.
28 Feb 2017
SBS World News Radio: Migrant and refugee groups have highlighted issues such as language services, youth engagement and longer-term assistance in submissions to a federal parliamentary inquiry into migrant settlement outcomes.