Refugee and migrant health
Many people come to Australia as refugees or migrants. Access to culturally safe healthcare is important to improve family health and wellbeing.
Australia’s population includes many people who were born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas. This includes people with diverse cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs, and connections to all regions of the globe.
A small proportion (around 10 per cent) of the total number of people settling in Australia each year are granted visas under the Refugee and Humanitarian Program. More than half of these are children or young people.
Women and children of migrant and refugee backgrounds experience higher rates of poor maternal and child health outcomes, including gestational diabetes, preterm birth, stillbirth, admission to neonatal intensive care, and maternal depression and anxiety when compared to locally born women.
The reasons for these health disparities are complex. Solutions require systems change to facilitate culturally safe approaches and overcome structural barriers.
Who does it affect?
Who does it affect?
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics:
- In June 2023, an estimated three in 10 people living in Australia (8.2 million) were born overseas.
- Around half of Australians were born overseas or had one of both parents born overseas.
- Around one in five (21 per cent) Australians speak a language other than English at home.
- Australians identify with over 300 cultural and ethnic backgrounds and speak over 300 languages.
Our refugee and migrant health research
Our refugee and migrant health research
Our research guides policy, services and clinical practice to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities for children, young people and families from refugee and migrant backgrounds. We collaborate with health services, community agencies, and communities to address their important questions.
Our Intergenerational Health group established the Refugee and Migrant Research Program in 2012. Over the past decade, we have partnered with Foundation House, public maternity hospitals and early childhood health services to co-design, implement and evaluate culturally safe, trauma-informed approaches to care for families of refugee and migrant backgrounds.
Our Group Pregnancy Care study undertook a formative evaluation of a new model for antenatal and postnatal care for families of refugee background. The model involves interagency collaboration between public maternity hospitals, refugee settlement agencies and maternal and child health services.
The Strong Families Strong Babies project partnered with maternity and maternal and child health services to investigate new ways to provide culturally safe, trauma-responsive pregnancy and postnatal support for Punjabi-speaking women and families from India.
Our stillbirth prevention project, Working Together to make Pregnancy Safer, is co-designing culturally appropriate resources for women and families, plus education for health professionals and interpreters.
The Intergenerational Health group is also studying resilience in children of migrant and refugee background to determine factors that help them grow up strong and resilient.
Our researchers are examining reasons behind under-immunisation among children of migrant parents by identifying gaps in health service delivery and are urging improvements in recording catch-up vaccination.
Impacts of our research
Impacts of our research
- Our research on oral health inequalities in refugee and migrant communities was a catalyst for the Victorian government to implement free priority dental care for refugees and asylum seekers.
- Our clinical care, education, policy and research work in refugee health contributes to policy and guidelines. This includes revising national refugee health screening guidelines, developing a vitamin D position statement, asylum seeker health, medical and learning problems in refugee children and catch-up immunisation.
- We’re leading the Stronger Futures Centre of Research Excellence, bringing together researchers and community partner organisations to share knowledge and address gaps in evidence on building community resilience and breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and social adversity.
- We recently launched the Know our Story toolkit to showcase strategies for working in partnership with communities of refugee backgrounds.
- Overcoming communication barriers is key to reducing stillbirths in migrant and refugee communities. Messages about stopping smoking, diabetes management, pregnancy complications and seeking help are vital. Our Australian-first program of community-based group pregnancy care is helping refugee background women from Burma and Assyrian Chaldean women access culturally safe health care and support.
- The Working Together project has developed culturally appropriate stillbirth prevention resources in women’s preferred languages for use in Australian maternity settings. We are also creating online professional development for health professionals and interpreters who work with women and families of refugee and migrant backgrounds during pregnancy.
- Our COVID-19 vaccine confidence training program helps recent migrants and refugees overcome vaccination barriers.
Our vision
Our vision
We are working to ensure that migrant and refugee families have access to culturally safe and responsive health and social care to support their health and wellbeing.
Where to next?
Where to next?
Breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma for refugee and migrant families requires coordinated action and systemic change at many levels. We are working with partner organisations to build stronger evidence and develop tools and resources for the integration of trauma-informed principles and approaches in health and social care settings.
Get the latest information
Communication key to reducing stillbirth in migrant and refugee populations
Understanding what matters to women and communities new to Australia is fundamental to health...
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A new model of community-based group pregnancy care for refugee women
This Australian-first program was designed by health services in consultation with Karen...
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