At Ballarat Community Health, we are committed to ensuring that everyone in our community—regardless of their journey or background—has access to safe, compassionate and culturally appropriate healthcare. Our Refugee & Immigrant Health services provide dedicated support for individuals and families who are newly arrived in Australia, helping them navigate the health system, understand their wellbeing needs and settle confidently into life in the Ballarat region.
Our team works alongside GPs, allied health professionals, community services and settlement agencies to deliver thorough health assessments, ongoing care coordination and tailored health education.

We focus on early identification of health concerns, immunisations, chronic disease management and connecting people with the right services.

For people starting a new life far from home, good health is a vital foundation. Ballarat Community Health is proud to play a role in supporting refugee and migrant communities to thrive and participate fully in the place they now call home.

The Refugee Health Program provides care for refugee communities, delivered by a Refugee Immigrant Health Nurse with expertise engaging with diverse cultural and language communities.

The role of the Refugee Immigrant Health Nurse is to support refugees, asylum seekers and those from refugee-like backgrounds with their health needs.

The program also supports all new migrants and those with complex health needs, in order to facilitate access to the appropriate care and support services, offering culturally appropriate health care to ensure the long term health of the client

The clinic supports: children and young people (0–18 years) from refugee, asylum seeker, and migrant backgrounds for general health and developmental concerns.

The clinic also supports adults and children from refugee and migrant backgrounds with Vitamin D deficiency.

Refugee-background communities may have multiple risk factors for low vitamin D, e.g. dark skin, covering clothing and limited time outside.

Our Refugee Immigrant Health Nurse will support referrals for the Paediatric Immigrant Health Clinic. 

The Clinic is ran by Dr David Tickell, a paediatrician with experience in immigrant health. Clinic visits are bulk billed and a GP referral is required.