News and Events

Free support for carers Carer Gateway is a national support service funded by the Australian Government. It provides free services for anyone caring for a family member or friend who is living with a disability, a long-term medical condition, mental illness, alcohol or drug dependency or someone who is frail due to age. A carer is someone who helps a family member or friend with daily tasks such as emotional support, personal care or administering medicine. Many people don’t see themselves as a carer – just a mum, dad, sister, son, spouse or friend – but anybody can be a carer at any time, and any age. Not all caring looks the same. Some carers provide care all the time, while some only provide care occasionally. Some carers may share their caring responsibilities with a family member or another person close to them. In South West Sydney and Nepean blue Mountains Wellways delivers Carer Gateway services. These services include:

Look after your mental health in Harmony Week! Harmony Week is happening right now and goes from Monday 21 March – Sunday 27 March. Harmony Week is a time to embrace Australia’s cultural diversity and celebrate the rich cultural and linguistic contributions within our community. The message of Harmony Week is “everyone belongs”. We know that belonging in a community is important to our mental health. As an individual or organisation it is important we support people from different countries, cultural backgrounds, and experiences to help them feel included, respected and have a sense of belonging.    The message of respect and belonging can be lived by each of us, every day, not just during Harmony Week.

How can I speak about anxiety when there's no word for it in my language? - ABC News Article  Click here to read this article. 

Expression of Interest open for Primary Health Networks: Embedding the “Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia” with PHNs The Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project (the Embrace Project) is committed to providing support to Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to work effectively with multicultural communities across Australia and improve the cultural responsiveness of mental health services. The Embrace Project is seeking Expressions of Interest from PHNs to Embed the “Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia” This opportunity will allow your PHN to :

Orygen has created a collection of resources about cultural diversity and mental wellbeing. The resources were developed to support the knowledge and skills of the youth mental health workforce, to work safely and inclusively with multicultural young people. To access the resources visit https://orygen.org.au/Training/Resources/Cultural-diversity-and-mental-wellbeing

The Embrace Project is looking for participants from across Australia who are passionate about multicultural mental health and ready to contribute to the next phase of the project to achieve real change.   As part of the National Consumer and Carer group you will:  provide insight into multicultural mental health, particularly the views and interests of diverse mental health consumers and carers   offer solutions and strategies for improving the outcomes for all people who are living with mental health issues and their carers  assist in project implementation and ensuring meaningful project outcomes  support the distribution of national approaches  provide links to local multicultural communities  review communication and other documents  and so much more 

The information below highlights the various ways people can receive their COVID-19 vaccines in individual states and territories across Australia.   COVID-19 vaccine eligibility If you are a person with disability or a NDIS participant, 12 years and over, you are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna are available if you are 12 years old and over. AstraZeneca is available if you are: 60 years old and over 18 to 59 years old – you can choose to have AstraZeneca after discussing with your health professional.   New South Wales Vaccination appointments are available at more than 3000 locations across New South Wales (NSW) including pharmacies, GPs and NSW Health clinics. There are many ways you can make a booking to receive your COVID-19 vaccine.

The NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service working in partnership with UNSW is delivering a 2 hour training session for community leaders, community workers, and faith representatives working with CALD communities to promote uptake of vaccination, counter misinformation and address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. To book a session contact: your local Multicultural Health Unit or the NSW Refugee Health Service. More information about the workshops is available in this document.

Below are two NSW-based opportunities to request COVID-19 vaccine information sessions for community groups. Contact the NSW Refugee Health Service to request an in-language information session on COVID-19 vaccinations to communities with a refugee background. Contact RHS for details. Western Sydney Local Health District has developed a 1-hour COVID-19 vaccine information session for CALD communities living in Western Sydney. Bilingual trainers can deliver it in Arabic, Dari, Dinka, Punjabi, Urdu. Contact Daniel.Apat@health.nsw.gov.au.

RHS is trialing a helpline to assist Assyrian-speakers with questions they have about the COVID-19 vaccine and assist them book a vaccination appointment. Call 0459 884 573 during business hours.  Those who want to make a booking themselves can also use Vaccine Eligibility Checker which is available in Assyrian and Arabic (as well as other languages).