TTMHN Annual Forum 2024

This year’s Tasmanian Transcultural Mental Health Network (TTMHN) Annual Forum focused on
supporting children and young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. The full-day event
brought together mental health professionals, educators, and community workers to share
expertise and insights in working with young people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The morning session featured presentations on local approaches to children’s wellbeing, including
an innovative program called “MUMS Pals” focusing on prenatal to 2-year-olds, presented by Olu
Iniwounu and Alberte Toettenborg. Agnes Sestilio shared valuable insights on addressing child
trauma through collaborative approaches.
The forum offered two concurrent workshops throughout the day. The first, led by Shubha Gokhale
from Foundation House Victoria, explored therapeutic approaches for working with refugee
children and adolescents. The second workshop, facilitated by Lina Ishu from STARTTS New
South Wales, demonstrated the use of art and expressive modalities with recently arrived young
refugees.
A highlight of the day was a special performance by “Students Against Racism” from TasTAFE,
showcasing young voices through creative expression. The forum concluded with a panel
discussion featuring members of the Multicultural Youth Tasmania’s (MYT) Youth Advisory Group,
who provided direct insights on how best to support the well-being of young migrants settling in
Tasmania.
The event, supported by the Tasmanian Government, demonstrated TTMHN’s commitment to
improving mental health outcomes for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds
through community engagement, knowledge sharing, and strengthening the cultural competency
and cultural responsiveness of the mental health workforce.