Multicultural Health Policy and Action Plan
Queensland Health is currently developing a new Multicultural Health Policy and Action Plan (MHPAP).
The MHPAP represents a significant milestone for Queensland Health. It is the first state-wide policy document dedicated to multicultural populations in over a decade.
This policy and action plan will set out the next priorities for Queensland Health and Queensland public health services to improve health outcomes for Queensland’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
Vision
All people from multicultural backgrounds in Queensland can access safe, equitable and culturally appropriate public healthcare with equitable outcomes.
Background
Queensland is a culturally and linguistically diverse state. The recent 2021 census showed that more than one in 5 Queensland residents were born overseas (22.7% of the Queensland population).
Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. People from multicultural backgrounds, however, continue to experience significant disparities in access to and journeys with our health services, and subsequently poorer health outcomes.
Multiple studies have reported that this results from challenges including language and cultural barriers, low health literacy, difficulties in navigating the health system, socio-economic barriers and discrimination.
Find out more in the Exploring the health of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations in Queensland report (PDF 909 kB).
The populations in scope
The MHPAP will focus on health outcomes for all CALD and migrant populations. This includes people with a CALD background who:
- are Australian-born with parents, grandparents or great grandparents born overseas
- have migrated to Australia as refugees, skilled migrants, through family migration or other pathways
- are here on Trans-Tasman visas
- are temporary or seasonal workers and reside in Queensland, or hold a temporary visa with limited access to healthcare to meet their needs
- identify as an Australia South Sea Islander.
Consultation progress
- Phase 1 consultation: Gather initial input and feedback from community and sector stakeholders to identify key issues and opportunities to inform the development of the action plan.
- Phase 2 consultation: Conduct a series of deep-dive internal workshops within Queensland Health to help identify system-level improvements and actions for the plan.
Have your say (Phase 3 consultation)
The MHPAP has 6 priority areas that have been identified and refined through extensive consultation.
- Prevention and early intervention
- High quality language services
- Sustainable, accessible and culturally safe services
- Productive partnerships, collaboration and linkages
- Diverse, inclusive and culturally capable health workforce
- Multicultural data and research
To ensure the plan responds to the needs of Queensland’s CALD communities, Queensland Health is regularly consulting with community, sector and health professionals to help inform the development of the final MHPAP.
The Multicultural Health and Language Services team is also hosting and presenting consultation workshops for CALD communities. To get involved and have your say, contact the project team at multicultural@health.qld.gov.au to arrange a meeting.
Next steps
To progress the development of this new MHPAP and to ensure it responds to the needs of Queensland’s multicultural communities, the team will consider:
- all feedback received through external consultation (non-government organisations in the multicultural health and refugee settlement sectors, including community organisations and community leaders and members)
- all feedback received through internal consultation (across Queensland Health departmental divisions and hospital and health services)
- research and data that tells us some of the health barriers and enablers for multicultural communities.
The MHPAP is expected to be finalised and launched in August 2024 (TBC).
If you have any queries or if you would like to meet with the team to discuss this, get in touch at multicultural@health.qld.gov.au.