The Project is a partnership between the Transcultural Mental Health Centre, the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health and selected rural sites.

The Project was funded to develop demonstration models of service delivery and collaborative frameworks that enhance the cultural responsiveness of rural mental health services for the growing number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities living in rural NSW.

The presentation will initially present an overview of the TRROP; its effective governance structure, the rural and remote areas covered in NSW and its key performance areas. A detailed description of the capacity building initiatives undertaken over the life of the Project to date will be offered. These initiatives have targeted health, mental health, government and non-government service providers.

The presentation will illustrate the principles underpinning TRROP’s capacity building strategies, including: designing training in response to the needs of the participants, developing partnerships with a range of service providers and consumers in the planning and delivery of the training, trialing theatre-based approaches to training and the use of new technologies. The presentation will focus on the training of clinical staff on cultural competencies and the assessment and treatment of CALD individuals experiencing mental health issues.

Finally, drawing from the experience of the TRROP, valuable recommendations for working with rural mental health service providers in the area of capacity building will be presented.