Cultural barriers may stand in the way of newcomers to Australia receiving the health care they need. Medical professionals who understand and address the challenges involved can significantly improve patient outcomes and build stronger communities.

Funded by Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network, our Multicultural Access Program provides refugees and migrants in the Ipswich region with support in accessing and navigating health services. The service aims to improve health literacy and reduce barriers to ongoing health care, with major benefits for participants.

When families can’t access the health services they need, children often suffer the most. The Child Health Pathway project aims to support vulnerable children by empowering their families to navigate the health system successfully.

Funded through the Brisbane South Primary Health Network (BS-PHN) and delivered in partnership with The Salvation Army, the project supports the families of children who attend the Logan Community Hubs. A key focus is on families from CALD backgrounds or with communication difficulties.

We are proud to partner with Metro South Health to deliver a community-based antenatal service for eligible newly arrived, refugee, and migrant women living in Logan.

The service is facilitated from the SSI Gateway and aims to improve birthing outcomes for babies born in Logan. Evidence shows that a woman who receives care from a Midwife throughout the duration of pregnancy and birth is more likely to have a normal birth of a healthy baby at term, have a more positive experience of labour and birth, be more satisfied with her care, and successfully breastfeed.  

We work closely with Midwives to provide wrap-around support to women and families by linking them with internal and external services for housing, employment, health and financial well-being support.

SSI delivers local area coordination services to residents in:

Sydney (Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Inner West and Strathfield Local Government Areas (LGAs))

South West Sydney (Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly LGAs)

P: 1800 960 975
E: ssilac@ndis.gov.au

If you have any questions or enquiries specifically about the NDIA and not LAC, please contact the NDIA Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please dial 000.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

If you need a language interpreter, call TIS National on 131 450. If you are deaf, hard of hearing and/or have a speech impairment, contact the National Relay Service.

Your feedback is important to us. Whether it’s a complaint, compliment or a suggestion on how we can improve our service, we want to hear from you.

In 2016, we heard the voices of the community and introduced a Gateway community space for locals to drop in and receive information, advice or referral.

The Gateway continues to coordinate from an integrated response model, whereby local services outreach from the centre and collaborate on strategies around local community issues. We facilitate a number of internal programs for improving the economic and social participation of newly arrived communities. The SSI Gateway can be booked to run events and other community-focused work.

There are several large training rooms and small interview rooms available to hire via our external booking process.

To find out more about what’s on at SSI Gateway or to enquire about booking space for your next event/workshop/meeting, please either drop in, email or phone us.

SSI Gateway is located at 91 Wembley Road, Logan Central, QLD 

E: acsl.gatewayofficer@ssi.org.au
P: 07 3412 8222
Monday – Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm

Peer-to-peer support groups are a powerful way to connect people with disability to information that can greatly improve their lives. They also play an important role in bringing the disability community together to advocate for themselves and others.

The best part about these groups? Anyone can start one. With the right tools and resources, you can create a safe space for people with lived experience of disability to connect with each other, access advice, learn skills and become more independent.

Read on to find out how to form a peer-to-peer support group in your community and what free resources and training SSI now offers for community organisations to upskill and run their own groups.

For more information on the Multicultural Peer Network, email community@ssi.org.au.

In 2020, SSI created a successful model for running disability support groups in multicultural communities across NSW called the Multicultural Peer Network (MPN).

The MPN was a collection of impactful, peer-led support groups which promoted independence among people with lived experience of disability from multicultural communities, as well their carers and families.

The program was funded through the Department of Social Services (DSS).

During the MPN program, SSI found tailoring disability support groups to different cultures, languages and interests had a vastly positive impact on people with disability in these spaces.

With a focus on guiding participants on advocacy and helping them gain new skills, 84% of participants agreed they were more knowledgeable about their rights and 85% felt they had new skills to help them achieve their goals.

With the resources from the MPN program now publicly available, community leaders and organisations can be empowered to start their own peer groups.

View the NEW Training Manual – a new, free interactive way to learn how to run peer led support groups.

In this video, hear from the MPN Program coordinator Susie who gives an overview of the two facilitator guides and how best to use them in discussion groups.

Facilitator training

SSI offers free facilitator training for community organisations and individuals interested in starting their own community peer groups deepening their facilitator skills.

To learn more about the resources on this webpage, facilitator training or other ways SSI supports community organisations, email community@ssi.org.au.

Facilitator guides

These facilitator guides are designed for community organisations to use as a handbook for workshop facilitation and to gain valuable skills in facilitating group discussions.

Book 1: The MPN Model provides an overview of the practice model for engaging with people of CALD backgrounds and disability, including an in-depth explanation of the key principles of the model, their outcomes, and capacity building in utilising this model. View the NEW Training Manual – a new, free interactive way to learn how to run peer-led support groups.

Book 2: This guide is a compilation of resources that can be used by peer facilitators to run a peer group, including how to help people learn about self-advocacy, circles of support, volunteering, and employment.

SSI disability support services

For more information about SSI’s disability support services in NSW, please visit our Local Area Coordination services page or email ssilac@ndis.gov.au.

At 99 Steps our team of domestic and family violence practitioners provides culturally responsive and trauma-informed support to women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experiencing domestic and family violence in the Logan and Beenleigh area.

99 Steps is a specialised service for women from refugee/asylum seeker backgrounds or women living in community on a temporary visa. We understand the unique barriers faced by women in diverse communities, and our mission is to empower and support them on their journey towards safety and healing.

99 Steps can provide tailored support to meet the specific cultural and linguistic needs of women experiencing domestic and family violence:

Emotional Support

• Building awareness of domestic and family violence
• Education around healthy relationships
• Empowering women to self-advocate
• Fostering resilience through trauma informed practice

Practical Support

• Safety/Exit planning
• Referrals to crisis services and emergency shelters
• Referrals to legal support services
• Referrals to housing services
• Referrals to case management services
• Referrals to health and counselling services

Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) can manifest differently in different migrant communities, highlighting the importance of culturally appropriate support services that recognise the diverse experiences of migrants and break down barriers to accessing support. In My Voice is a series of vignettes that tell the stories of DFV in different migrant communities in order to help start conversations amongst communities and service providers and inspire change. 

Each vignette tells a different story by Supporting U women leaders, painting a diverse picture of DFV in migrant and refugee communities. By amplifying the voices and experiences of survivors and women leaders, In My Voice helps to empower women survivors in diverse migrant communities. 

We invite you to hear the stories on DFV from Africa, East Asia, Middle East, South-East Asia, South Asia, and Regional Australia. The videos are provided in English and other languages for your viewing. 

If you feel triggered by this material or would like advice around urgent DFV response or for DFV related counselling, you can call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). 

If you would like general mental health or crisis support, you can call LIFELINE (13 11 14) 

If you would like to use this material for commercial purposes, please seek permission from SSI. 

We believe sports and recreation are good for our health and can bring people together. Our Multicultural Sports Club in Logan has many activities for people from different cultures and backgrounds. We have activities like Family Football, Women’s Hub, Taekwondo, Youth Night, and more.

Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, including events like Learn to Surf, Paint and Chat, Talent Shows and Movie Nights. Our soccer groups are very popular, as well as other activities like martial arts, surfing and dance.

About the Health Impact Project 

The first few years of an individual’s life are critical to their long-term health and wellbeing. The Health Impact Project (HIP) provides an innovative place-based approach to supporting CALD children 0-8 years to achieve optimum health, wellbeing and developmental outcomes. HIP strives to remove complex barriers so that CALD families can successfully access a wide range of health promotion and early intervention activities at Community Hubs Logan. Our approach ensures holistic and planned interventions with effective coordination of resources and complementary services that are unintrusive, practical and directed by participants​​.

Key health promotion and early intervention activities include:

• Child health nurse outreach
• Oral health service outreach
• Speech therapy
• Music therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Kids gross motor programs
• Cultural cooking and nutrition classes
• Gentle exercise and stretching
• Dance classes
• School readiness workshops
• Developmental workshops
• Water safety programs
• Tailored parenting programs
• Referrals to relevant support services

We deliver these services in partnership with 5 local school-based hubs – Woodridge SS, Woodridge North SS, Marsden SS, St Pauls Primary and St Francis College. Key HIP principles include provision of culturally responsive, trauma-informed, strengths-based, wraparound supports for children and families.

The Health Impact Project is run through the Woodridge, Woodridge North, St Pauls, St Francis, and Marsden Community Hubs in Logan, Queensland.

E: acsl.gatewayofficer@ssi.org.au

P: 07 3412 9980