QAMH Workforce Series Ep 6 - Multicultural Community Mental Health Workforce

QAMH Workforce Series E6: Multicultural Lived Experience in Practice

Practical reflections and learning from three Queensland services

Join QAMH and guest speakers for Episode 6 of Workforce Webinar Wednesdays, part of the QAMH Workforce Series.

QAMH's Issues Paper, Seen, Heard and Sustainable, highlights the importance of recognising multicultural lived experience as a distinct and valuable form of expertise within the community mental health workforce.

This expertise may draw on experiences of migration, resettlement, acculturation, navigating mental health challenges, and supporting communities across cultures and languages. It can complement, and sometimes intersect with, designated mental health lived experience (peer) work. However, the sector does not yet have consistent language, role definitions or frameworks to recognise and support this expertise.

What needs to change in our workforce systems to better recognise, recruit and support multicultural lived experience expertise?

This webinar explores that question through practical examples from three Queensland services.

The session will begin with key findings from QAMH's Issues Paper, followed by reflections from organisations already drawing on multicultural lived experience expertise in their services. Speakers will discuss their approaches, challenges and lessons learned, including how they recruit, train, support and value workers who bring this expertise to their roles.

An interactive panel discussion and audience Q&A will provide opportunities to explore what these experiences mean for other community mental health services.

What you'll hear

• Key findings from the Issues Paper: Jun Song, QAMH, will introduce findings on recognising multicultural lived experience expertise, addressing workforce barriers and strengthening organisational support.

• World Wellness Group: Sameera Suleman, Executive Director, Client Services, will discuss how World Wellness Group understands multicultural lived experience as expertise, the framework informing its approach, and how this translates into everyday practice.

• Centacare FNQ: Siobhan O'Donnell, Team Leader, Multicultural Minds Program, will share how the program in Cairns was established and what the team has learned about recruiting, training and supporting workers.

• North & West Remote Health: Marianna Masiorski, General Manager, Mental Health, will explore the realities of recruiting across a large and remote region, including working with HR teams to attract workers and practical strategies other services can consider.

• Panel discussion and audience Q&A: All speakers will reflect on common challenges, practical lessons and opportunities to strengthen recognition and support for multicultural lived experience expertise across the sector.

Open to QAMH members, QCOSS members and the wider community.