VMHPAA Celebrates World Day for Cultural Diversity with a Call to Champion Culturally Connected Mental Health Care
- Shane Warren
- May 19
- 2 min read
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 May 2025
VMHPAA Celebrates World Day for Cultural Diversity with a Call to Champion Culturally Connected Mental Health Care
Today, on World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, the Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association Australia (VMHPAA) celebrates the richness of cultural diversity and calls attention to the critical role vocationally trained mental health practitioners play in fostering culturally safe, inclusive, and responsive care.
Whether supporting new migrants navigating complex systems, working with First Nations communities, or offering trauma-informed counselling to refugee families - counsellors, welfare workers, and lived experience practitioners with vocational training are often best placed to understand and honour cultural nuance in mental health care.
“Over more than 25 years working as a relationship counsellor, I’ve seen that cultural connection is more than language, it’s values, customs, communication, and trust,” said Susan Sandy, Secretary of VMHPAA.“Vocationally trained practitioners, especially those from diverse backgrounds themselves, bring a lived, empathetic understanding that transforms the therapeutic space.”
This year’s theme echoes VMHPAA’s ongoing commitment to dialogue, inclusion, and culturally competent mental health practice. The organisation continues to advocate for the recognition and elevation of the vocationally trained workforce that delivers real-time support in diverse communities.
“From Singapore to Sydney to Hong Kong, I’ve witnessed that mental wellbeing is never one-size-fits-all,” added Shane Warren, Chair of VMHPAA and co-author of Diversity in Coaching.“Culturally responsive care is not just an ethical obligation, it’s a clinical necessity. Vocationally trained practitioners are often the bridge that allows people to feel truly heard and understood.”
VMHPAA’s Call to Action on Cultural Diversity Day:
Invest in training programs that embed cultural safety, trauma-informed practice, and community engagement.
Recognise lived experience and multilingual capacity as valuable clinical assets in mental health hiring practices.
Ensure vocational pathways remain accessible to practitioners from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
As Australia grows more diverse, so too must its mental health services. VMHPAA urges policymakers, employers, and service providers to centre cultural understanding as a cornerstone of all care.
Because inclusion is not a box to tick it’s the path to better mental health outcomes for all.
About VMHPAA
The Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association of Australia (VMHPAA) is the national voice for professionals with vocational qualifications working in mental health. Representing counsellors, psychotherapists, peer workers, family support practitioners, and others, VMHPAA promotes excellence, advocacy, and ethical standards across all mental health care environments.
Media Contact:
Shane Warren, Chair
Susan Sandy, Secretary
VMHPAA
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