Newly arrived refugees from Syria and Iraq who are living with severe mental health issues will soon benefit from a $4.8 million funding boost from the NSW Government.

Minister for Mental Health Tanya Davies made the announcement in Sydney today while visiting the Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).

“Organisations like STARTTS will now have the opportunity to enhance their community-based mental health supports in refugee resettlement areas, where it’s needed the most,” Mrs Davies said.

The extra funding, part of the NSW Government’s Community Living Supports program, will give at least 60 additional refugees access to coordinated clinical care and psychosocial supports.

Mrs Davies said the announcement today coincided with the official opening of STARTTS’ new premises in Fairfield.

“We need to ensure individuals fleeing conflict are able to settle into life in Australia with increased confidence,” Mrs Davies said.

“For more than 25 years, STARTTS has been helping to do this by offering specialist cultural transition support and cutting-edge psychological treatment.”

In the past year more than 10,000 refugees arriving in Australia have settled in NSW, with the majority of them in South Western Sydney, particularly the Fairfield area.

Recently, the NSW Government committed $8 million over four years from 2016-17 to support the work of STARTTS, part of a $32 million investment in health services to cater for the increased intake of humanitarian refugees.