NSW government launches multicultural mental health phone line

These challenges can be exacerbated by post-traumatic stress, often sparked by the chaos of fleeing their country of origin during conflict.

Addressing these issues is the aim of a state government phone line launched this week, designed to help people from diverse communities access appropriate services.

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The Transcultural Mental Health Line will be staffed by registered bilingual mental health professionals, meaning support can be provided in up to 30 different languages.

Mr Delaney, a case worker at the Multicultural Council of Wagga, said the phone line is a "great idea" which would be fully embraced by multicultural services across the state.

"Wagga has a really strong support base for migrants but providing strong mental health support hasn't always been easy because of the language barriers," Mr Delaney said.

"This new service is really good in that it gives migrants an opportunity to communicate in their own language and get the support they need."

Some of the languages covered by the new phone service include Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Korean, Vietnamese and Ukrainian.

Mr Delaney said post-traumatic stress is one of the main challenges faced by migrants in Wagga, as well as general adjustment issues.

"It's a difficult time because they're having to flee their country of origin and start fresh - there's a lot of barriers and a lot of stressful situations," he said.

The service has been hailed by the NSW government as the first multicultural mental health phone line in Australia.

It will be available between 9am and 4.30pm from Monday to Friday.

Multiculturalism Minister Mark Coure said the initiative will help support the state's diverse communities.

"We understand that finding the right words to express how we are feeling can be hard, let alone for people that might struggle with English," Mr Coure said.

"This new service makes mental health support more accessible, and will give people the peace of mind to speak freely in a language they are more comfortable with."

The Transcultural Mental Health Line can be contacted at 1800 648 911. Additional mental health support is available at Lifeline 13 11 14 and the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. In emergencies please seek help immediately by calling 000.

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