Cultural consultants
Cultural consultants play a vital role in bridging cultural knowledge and mental health practice. They bring cultural expertise, language skills, and deep community insight to help mental health services better support culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations across Queensland. Their work ensures mental health care is not just linguistically accessible, but culturally respectful, safe, and effective. If you’re passionate about cultural diversity, community wellbeing, and mental health support, this could be a rewarding and impactful career pathway.
What is the role of a cultural consultant?
Cultural consultants provide specialised advice and support to mental health teams, helping to integrate the cultural values, beliefs, and experiences of the people they serve into health care.
Cultural consultants assist consumers and mental health services by building trust and engagement to ensure cultural safety, diagnosis accuracy, and comprehensive and holistic recovery plans.
Unlike interpreters, who focus on removing language barriers, cultural consultants offer deeper and meaningful cultural understanding, helping clinicians interpret behaviours, experiences, and barriers through a cultural lens.
Their work may include:
- advising mental health clinicians on rapport-building strategies, culturally responsive assessment and treatment approaches
- supporting clients to navigate the mental health system in culturally safe ways
- assisting in the development and delivery of culturally responsive programs and education
- advocating for culturally competent care within mental health services and broader community settings
- helping organisations integrate cultural perspectives into service delivery.
Many cultural consultants have lived experience of migration, refugee, asylum seeking, acculturation, resettlement, and belonging to a culturally diverse community. While lived experience is highly valued, cultural expertise, communication and interpersonal skills are essential for this work.
Become a cultural consultant in Queensland
What qualifications do cultural consultants need?
There is no single pathway or strict qualification requirement for cultural consultants. The role values practical cultural expertise over formal credentials. Many cultural consultants:
- bring extensive community experience and cultural knowledge
- have professional qualifications in healthcare or human services from Australia or overseas
- hold certificates or degrees in fields like psychology, social work, nursing, counselling, occupational therapy, or public health.
While some cultural consultants are trained clinicians, others come from non-clinical backgrounds and develop their skills on the job through mentoring, workshops, and professional development.
Where do cultural consultants work?
Cultural consultants work across a range of mental health and community settings, including:
- community organisations, supporting culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) clients and families
- public hospitals and mental health services, advising clinical teams on culturally appropriate care through the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre and the Multicultural Mental Health Coordinators program across Queensland Hospital and Health Services
- outreach and support programs, increasing access to culturally relevant mental health services
They collaborate closely with multidisciplinary treating teams, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and occupational therapists, adding value through cultural expertise to improve service delivery.
The daily life of a cultural consultant in Queensland
No two days are the same. The role is dynamic, client-centred and deeply rewarding. Each day varies depending on client needs, referrer’s request/s and team priorities.
A cultural consultant may:
- provide cultural advice during client assessments
- deliver psycho-education in clients’ preferred languages
- support communication between clinicians and clients
- participate in mental health team meetings and case discussions
- assist with the co-design and delivery of cultural competency training for health care teams, as well as the development of policy, guidelines and framework that supports best practice models in transcultural mental health at the systems level.
- contribute to population-level projects promoting culturally safe mental health practices.
For example, within the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre, cultural consultants work alongside clinicians, educators, and service coordinators to strengthen cultural responsiveness across Queensland’s health care system.
Common questions about cultural consultants
While interpreters translate language between service providers and clients, cultural consultants provide context and advice about cultural beliefs, values and practices. They help mental health teams understand how culture shapes experiences of illness, recovery, and help-seeking behaviours, ensuring services are not just accessible, but culturally responsive.
There are no strict qualifications required. Experience in health, human services, community work, or cultural advocacy is valued, alongside strong cultural expertise.
Most cultural consultants are engaged on a casual basis. Hourly rates typically range from $40 to $50 per hour, depending on experience and qualifications. Consultants with clinical backgrounds (e.g. mental health clinicians) are usually paid at equivalent health practitioners/nursing rates within Queensland Health.
Yes. With growing recognition of the need for culturally competent mental health care, cultural consultants are increasingly sought after across hospitals, community organisations, outreach programs, and government services.
Working as a cultural consultant can lead to a range of career opportunities, including:
- clinical roles in mental health (e.g. mental health nurse, psychologist, social worker)
- specialist cultural educator or trainer
- policy and advocacy roles in multicultural mental health
- leadership roles in cultural competence development within healthcare organisations
- further study in public health, transcultural psychiatry, transcultural psychology, or mental health nursing.
The skills gained, including cultural consultation, communication, advocacy, and collaboration, are highly transferable across health, community and education sectors.
