Leading the way in multicultural healthcare | Ashley Young

Regional Unity Medal sponsored by My Guardian

Ashley Young is passionate about providing equitable and accessible healthcare for everyone in his community.

As Director of the Multicultural and Refugee Health Service for Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD), Ashley is a dedicated leader who works hard to champion those who face difficulties accessing the services they need.

“I believe strongly in public health, and I believe the access that I have should be the same for everyone,” Ashley said.

“I’ve been sick, and I’ve been in hospital. But I know the high-quality care that I’ve received is not accessible for everyone.”

Ashley’s commitment to equitable, trauma-informed healthcare has been instrumental in improving healthcare access for refugee communities.

Leading the Armidale Refugee Health Service, Ashley implemented Australia’s first allied health team established to complement the nurse-led model of care addressing the unique healthcare needs of newly settled refugees in rural settings.

All clients are assessed by a specialised refugee health nurse within 28 days of arrival, with an allied health team supporting them.

“There are enormous challenges. Refugees that settle here often don’t have a community around them yet, they don’t know people, or they don’t have family or friends and so they are starting fresh,” Ashley said.

“This project has been a standout for me. There’s 1,200 people that have been settled regionally that are thriving, absolutely thriving.

“It’s great for Armidale. It’s great for the Northern Tablelands and the New England area.

“It’s a really good model for the future of Australian country towns, especially when you have different community groups in each area.”

Another initiative has been to enhance the health care Interpreter Booking Office operations within HNELHD.

By reducing call wait-times to under five minutes and meeting the interpreter requests of more than 90 percent of calls, Ashley and the team have ensured patients seeking healthcare who need interpreter services, can access them without delay.

“There’s a heap more that needs to be done. There’s also a whole change in how staff think about this work,” Ashley said.

“We are doing cultural awareness training, focusing on trauma informed care and interpreter use training.

“We are working to change the mindset of clinicians – that it is not a deficit model – it’s not the person that needs the interpreter.

“It’s the clinician that needs the interpreter, so their communication is clear, so they are proactively communicating with people in their own language.”

And while Ashley is keen to keep making improvements wherever he can, he is quick to acknowledge the work of his colleagues.

“It is very much all the team. I am managing a phenomenal team. I am working to empower them to do the best they possibly can for communities.

“They’re the ones on the ground doing the work and strongly linked to the community. They are the ones hearing directly from them.

“What I try to do when people raise issues, is to make sure the service can be as responsive as possible.”

For his work in improving access to healthcare for every member of his community, Ashley Young was awarded the 2025 Regional Unity Medal.