Background

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This presentation will offer a case study based on a real-world client, who works for a disability support and advocacy service. We explore their experience of accessing MDAA and MMHC and  some of the barriers, opportunities and best-practice approaches that these organisations advocate for, whilst maintaining a focus on their rights-holder participation and promotion of their civic space in this journey. We consider this experience in the context of a post-pandemic world that impacted services delivery and access.   

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Internationally, an estimated 1.3 billion people, or roughly 16% of the world’s population, live with a significant disability (WHO, 2023). In Australia, about 6.8 million adults, or 40% of Australians aged 18 and over, report having a disability or long-term health condition (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2024). 

 

People with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds face persistent, intersecting barriers that limit their full inclusion in society. These include cultural stigma, language barriers, inaccessible systems, and a lack of multicultural and multilingual resources (MDAA, 2025).  

 

Service gaps are compounded by limited cultural competency among providers, meaning that support is often not client-centred or culturally responsive.  

 

Physical, social, and digital environments, including emerging technologies like AI, frequently fail to reflect the needs of CaLD communities, risking exclusion or reinforcing bias (MDAA, 2025).  

 

Without intentional co-design and community-led education, many remain unaware of their rights or unable to access timely support, perpetuating disadvantage and isolation (MDAA, 2025). Nearly 1 billion people around the world live with a diagnosable mental health disorder (WHO, 2022b, p.5), apart from those who may be at sub-threshhold levels, where treatments have been shown to be impactful on overall prognosis (State of Victoria, 2021). In Australia, over 2 in 5 people (43%, or 8.5 million people) aged between 16-85 are estimated to have experienced a mental health concern at some point in their life (AIHW, 2025, para. 2). Pre and post-COVID measures of loneliness and social isolation are also being considered precursors of mental health concerns (AIWH, 2025).  Barriers to accessing mental health supports globally have been identified as:  

• Service accessibility, capacity, and affordability 

• Widespread stigma stopping people from seeking help, including conceptualisations of mental health concerns and attendant stigma (WHO, 2022b, p.5); 

• Social determinants of health and their impacts, including geopolitical and socio-economic contexts and challenges (WHO, 2022b, pp. 21-25); 

• Service provision that is culturally responsive, meeting people at their point of need.  Addressing these issues underscores rights-holder participation and promotion of their civic space in this journey, and the importance of lived experience being at the forefront of effective service delivery.  

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Key Objectives

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• Analysis of a real-world case study to deepen understanding of how NGOs like MDAA and MMHC empower people with disabilities from CaLD backgrounds by embedding human rights in community realities.  

• Highlighting intersecting barriers such as cultural stigma, language challenges, and inaccessible systems faced by the case study participant, emphasising the importance of rights-holder participation in shaping inclusive policies.

• Examining NGO-led advocacy’s role in protecting civic space, advancing the Business and Human Rights agenda, and demonstrating how these organisations respond in culturally responsive disability ways to address current challenges and barriers to full civic participation for all service users. 

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Guiding Questions

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• What are the practices of NGOs such as MDAA and MMHC that lead to increased civic space and the activation of human rights? 

• What are the key barriers that service users in a multicultural society face when accessing support, and how do NGOs challenge systemic oppression to promote participation by service users?

• How can the Business and Human Rights framework interact with funding arrangements  to promote participation and empowerment?

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Format

• Case in Point

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Session Partners