Beyond Stigma: What multicultural communities can teach us about mental health

By Deva Wismartia, Program Manager 

Ask anyone working in mental health about the biggest barrier to care for multicultural communities, and you will likely hear the same answer: stigma.  

The fear of being judged, of bringing shame on the family, of becoming the subject of community talk. It appears in study after study, and it is real.  

Research with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia consistently finds that concerns about stigma can discourage people from seeking support. These findings are important, but they only tell part of the story. 

For many multicultural communities, mental health is not solely an individual experience. It is understood, discussed and responded to within family and community systems. 

This shapes how help-seeking works in practice. Decisions about mental health support are rarely made in isolation, and “mental health” might be understood differently depending on cultural context. 

These dynamics help explain why multicultural communities use mental health services at lower rates, despite experiencing elevated risk liked to migration stress, settlement pressures, racism and discrimination. 

But it would be a mistake to treat community and culture only as barriers to care. 

Ending Loneliness Together’s State of the Nation Report found that nearly one in three Australian adults experience loneliness, and that loneliness is strongly associated with depression and poorer mental health outcomes. Loneliness is now recognised by the World Health Organisation as a global public health priority. As households become smaller, families become more geographically dispersed, and friendships are squeezed around work, many Australians are finding themselves more isolated than ever. 

Collectivist cultures show us what is often missing from this picture: multigenerational households where no one eats alone, extended kin networks where care extends beyond the nuclear family, and faith or cultural communities that create regular opportunities for connection. These forms of connection can provide a sense of belonging and mutual responsibility that is important protective infrastructure against isolation and loneliness. 

Of course, connection alone is not enough. Community does not automatically translate into mental health literacy or safe pathways to care. People can be deeply embedded in community life and still struggle in silence. Yet community remains an important piece of the puzzle in increasing mental wellbeing in our communities, because mental wellbeing does not happen in isolation. 

So, the question for mental health systems is not how to “work around” family, community and culture, but how they can work with them. 

This means supporting families and communities to become active partners in mental health promotion and care. Improving mental health literacy in culturally relevant ways, creating opportunities for conversations around wellbeing within trusted community settings, and partnering with community organisations, faith leaders and bicultural workers who already hold trust and influence.  

At the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative, this is the lens we bring to our policy work. Cultural responsiveness is not an add-on to good mental health care. For multicultural Australia, it is good mental health care. 

Stigma remains an important challenge, but reducing stigma alone is not enough. We must also create culturally meaningful ways for families and communities to understand and talk about mental health. 

Our communities are not simply a problem to be solved; they are also where the healing happens. Around kitchen tables, at community halls, and in languages of the heart. A mental health system that recognises this will not just reach multicultural Australia, but learn from it.

Deva Wismartia is Program Manager at the Collaborative. She brings a diverse background across corporate services, human resources, international development, public diplomacy, and communications, with experience spanning Australia, Indonesia, and regional Southeast Asia.