Politicians and others spreading anti-migrant rhetoric should be held to account for their actions, including their impacts upon mental health and wellbeing, according to health and community leaders.
There are also serious repercussions for the health workforce, reports Jason Staines.
Jason Staines writes:
Divisive political debate around migration is having profound consequences for the mental health and wellbeing of multicultural communities, according to refugee advocates, mental health organisations, and healthcare groups.
Recent comments by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor – including claims there is a greater risk of “bad people” coming from “bad countries” and repeated references to “mass migration” – have prompted warnings that anti-migrant rhetoric risks legitimising racism and deepening social division.
Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for all visas to be capped at 130,000 annually and claimed credit for the Coalition’s harder line on migration.
Mental health experts and healthcare organisations say racism, exclusion and discrimination are established drivers of psychological distress, anxiety, trauma and social isolation, while multicultural Australians already face significant barriers accessing culturally safe mental health support.
Mental Health Australia CEO Carolyn Nikoloski told Croakey there was “really well-established evidence that racism, exclusion and discrimination can significantly impact mental health”, contributing to “ongoing stress, anxiety and trauma for individuals and communities”.
“Over time, experiences of racism and discrimination can erode people’s sense of safety, identity and trust, making it harder to feel connected or supported,” she said.
Her comments align with a growing body of research linking discrimination and social exclusion with poorer wellbeing outcomes among migrant communities. A 2025 study examining the experiences of Black African immigrants in Australia found participants frequently described discrimination in workplaces, services and public life.
The study’s authors found that exclusionary systems and racist narratives had measurable impacts on wellbeing. Participants often experienced “discrimination, primarily manifested through their perceptions of exclusion and discrimination in job recruitment, social environments, and social contexts”, with these experiences affecting mental health and social participation.
The researchers also noted that public and media narratives portraying African migrants as problematic or threatening could exacerbate stress and social isolation.
Separate Australian research published this year in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology found migrants in Australia experienced elevated rates of psychological distress, anxiety and depression in some cohorts, with social stressors, exclusion and discrimination recognised as contributing factors.
Undermining belonging
Nikoloski said feelings of belonging and connection acted as important protective factors. “When people feel welcome, like they belong, and that they have a sense of community, this has a strong protective effect on their mental health,” she said.
“Connection, inclusion and social support are powerful buffers against distress.”
Multicultural communities were under growing pressures, she added.
“In the current climate, where there is a lot of global conflict and tension, we are hearing within the sector that some multicultural communities in Australia are experiencing increased levels of racism and discrimination,” Nikoloski said.
“When people feel excluded or targeted, it can lead to withdrawal, mistrust and a reluctance to participate fully in community life, which only deepens that sense of disconnection,” she added.
Those concerns are echoed by refugee and asylum seeker advocates working directly with affected communities.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is “constantly hearing feedback” from people seeking asylum, refugees, and migrants about the impact of anti-migrant rhetoric, Deputy CEO Jana Favero told Croakey.
“It is leading to this normalisation of racist comments and behaviour,” she said, adding that the ASRC recently surveyed staff, with “the vast majority” either experiencing or witnessing increased racism in recent months.
“People are feeling unwanted, people are feeling like they have to justify themselves,” she said. “Everyone is talking about it, because it has real world consequences of not feeling wanted, not feeling a sense of belonging.”
Favero said what had previously been “covert racism” had become “overt racism”.
“Political leaders are doing it. The media keeps repeating it, then people think it’s normalised, and that’s okay behaviour, and it’s absolutely not,” she said.
She said the impact could be particularly acute for people already living with trauma, uncertainty, or insecure visa situations.
“Previously, people seeking asylum have told us the key areas of policy where they need to see change, whereas now they’re talking more about, ‘Can you please stop people talking about us the way they do?’” she said.
“It’s certainly become a big focus for people, people not feeling as if they’re welcome here, or they have a sense of belonging, and so at least, at least isolation, it leads to a sense of loneliness.”
Favero described the experience as one where “you’ve got the system stacked against you, and you’ve got the narrative stacked against you”.
“The narratives are doing as much – if not more – damage than the policies themselves.”
Harmful politics
The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) warned political leaders were “legitimising racism” and risking decades of multicultural progress by turning migration into a political battleground.
The organisation said comments suggesting migrants from some countries were less likely to adopt Australian values risked drawing “a false and divisive line between communities”.
The comments come amid broader concerns about racism and social cohesion in Australia.
Submissions to a federal parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have repeatedly framed racism as a public health issue with serious mental health and social consequences.
The inquiry, by the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, recently extended its submission deadline to 1 June 2026 following significant community interest.
A range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations have urged governments to treat racism as a “public health crisis” and implement the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Anti-Racism Framework in full. The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance said eliminating racism would help create “systems that work better for everyone and a nation that is stronger in its diversity and unity”.
Several submissions also pointed to increased racism following the failed Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023 and warned online platforms had made racism “a 24/7, inescapable reality”.
Broader concerns about exclusion and belonging have also been raised in recent research examining social cohesion and democratic resilience in Australia.
A recent Grattan Institute report warned migration had become an increasingly polarising political issue in Australia and other democracies, with debates around migration creating fertile ground for movements seeking to “exclude or diminish people based on ethnic or religious origin”.
The report warned that when such movements were “emboldened”, they could amplify divisions and increase “the prevalence of racism toward new migrants and minority ethnic groups”. It also noted that inflammatory statements about migration and race often received sustained media attention.
The report linked declining social cohesion and belonging with broader concerns about fairness, exclusion and democratic trust. It found Australians’ sense of belonging had fallen significantly over the past decade, while people born overseas in non-English speaking countries were less likely to feel they belonged and more likely to report experiences of discrimination.
It also highlighted barriers faced by many recent migrants, including underemployment, delayed access to social supports and exclusion from full economic participation, warning these pressures could contribute to weaker social cohesion and declining trust in democratic institutions.
Delayed care, unsafe systems
Mental health organisations say those concerns are particularly significant because multicultural Australians already face major barriers accessing mental health support.
A new report released by Mental Health Australia’s Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project, in partnership with Western Sydney University, found overseas-born Australians experiencing anxiety and mood disorders were more likely than Australian-born people to delay seeking support for more than a decade.
The report found overseas-born Australians experiencing anxiety disorders delayed treatment for more than 10 years at a rate of 57.6 percent, compared with 49.3 percent for Australian-born Australians. For mood disorders, the figures were 45.7 percent and 37.3 percent respectively.
The report identified barriers including language barriers, low mental health literacy, stigma, difficulties navigating the health system and “limited availability of culturally safe and responsive services”.
The report concluded that “culturally safe, integrated and strengths-based models of care that have been co-designed with community can significantly enhance mental health outcomes for CaLD (culturally and linguistically diverse) Australians”.
It also found multicultural mental health care needed to be “based on culturally safe, trauma-informed and strengths-based principles”.
Nikoloski said culturally safe care was “not just about translation”.
“It’s about feeling understood and respected,” she said. “When services are designed with communities, not just for them, this supports people to seek help earlier, stay engaged and experience better mental wellbeing.”
Concerns about racism are also being raised within healthcare settings themselves. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ (RACGP) 2025 Health of the Nation report found almost one-third of GPs witnessed racism towards patients in the health system in the previous year.
Around two in 10 GPs reported personally experiencing racism from a patient within their practice, while one in 10 experienced racism from a colleague. RACGP President Michael Wright told Croakey the findings were “extremely concerning”.
“We cannot wait any longer to ensure culturally safe and equitable healthcare for everyone in Australia,” he said. “It’s time to bring in tools to recognise, monitor, measure and prevent racism in primary care environments.”
Wright said racism had “significant health impacts, causing stress and contributing to poorer outcomes across a range of conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and psychological distress”.
“… we know that there is a direct pathway between racism and illness through the physiology of stress,” he said.
He said racism and culturally unsafe care could undermine trust in healthcare systems and discourage people from seeking treatment. “Racism can affect trust in the healthcare system and prevent people from seeking the care they need,” he said.
“No one in Australia should face barriers to accessing healthcare.”
Workforce matters
The issue also has broader implications for Australia’s health workforce capacity.
Australia relies heavily on overseas-trained health professionals to address workforce shortages and maldistribution, particularly in medicine and nursing. Research from the Australian National University (ANU) found that more than 30 percent of doctors and 17 percent of nurses practising in Australia in 2021 were trained overseas, with Australia ranking among the OECD countries most reliant on internationally trained doctors.
Meanwhile, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) similarly notes Australia “relies heavily on internationally recruited health professionals”, particularly medical practitioners, with around 32 percent of doctors trained overseas between 2018 and 2022.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) said nurses, midwives and carers from CaLD and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds were reporting increasing hostility in healthcare workplaces.
According to the ANMF, its members have described experiencing racism from colleagues, managers, and patients. ANMF Federal Assistant Secretary Catelyn Richards told Croakey the impacts extended well beyond the workplace.
“Racism follows people home,” she said. “Nurses, midwives and carers who experience racism and discrimination at work are describing real damage to their mental health, their family lives and their financial security.”
Richards said the ANMF was increasingly concerned experienced staff were leaving the profession because they no longer felt welcome or safe. “These are nurses, midwives and carers that we simply cannot afford to lose, particularly given the pressures the health system is already under,” she said.
She also warned public rhetoric could influence behaviour inside healthcare settings. “When divisive and hateful commentary dominates public discourse, some colleagues and patients feel emboldened to say and do things they otherwise might not,” Richards said.
The Australian Human Rights Commission recently described racism as “a public health emergency”.
Its report, Health inequities in Australia: A scoping review on the impact of racism on health outcomes and healthcare access, found racism contributed to “mental illness, chronic disease and reduced life expectancy” while also fuelling mistrust in healthcare systems.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said the consequences were not theoretical. “When people are denied care, misdiagnosed or treated with suspicion because of their race, the consequences are not theoretical. They can be fatal,” he said.
The report also highlighted evidence linking racism to psychological distress, anxiety and reduced healthcare access, particularly for First Nations people and multicultural communities.
Political and media rhetoric
ASRC’s Favero said political leaders and media organisations had a responsibility not to normalise misinformation or scapegoating. “For a start, media have a role in calling out the misleading comments that are being made by politicians,” she said.
She criticised media focus on inflammatory political messaging at the expense of substantive issues affecting communities.
“When I’m speaking to people in the community and asking them what they’re worried about, they’re worried about housing and they’re worried about cost of living,” she said. “It’s the government, instead of taking action on those areas, investing in those areas, is scapegoating migrants.”
Favero called on governments to implement the National Anti-Racism Framework developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission and to “reframe the debate around multicultural Australia and the positives of migration”.
Mental Health Australia’s Nikoloski said political leaders and institutions needed to be careful not to stigmatise or dehumanise communities.
“There is also a responsibility to actively promote accurate, balanced narratives that reflect the strengths in the diversity of Australian communities, rather than reinforcing stereotypes or division,” she said.
“Leaders and institutions can play a key role in strengthening social cohesion by fostering inclusion, calling out racism and discrimination when it occurs, and supporting respectful public conversations.”
Support services
Lifeline: 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services
13YARN: 13 92 76
1800Respect: 1800 737 732
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP)
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
QLIFE: 1800 184 527
StandBy Support After Suicide: 1300 727 247
headspace: 1800 650 890
See Croakey’s archive of articles on mental health
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