Gerald Lynch
Mental health nurse Francis Acquah was among the hundreds recognised in the Australia Day Honours List.
Following a long and ongoing career of assisting people with mental health issues, the Kalkallo resident has been recognised for his service to mental health care and the community becoming a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
The jovial Francis was born in Ghana and completed nursing training in London before moving to Australia in 1986 and has been working in the mental health care industry ever since.
He first worked at the Larundel Hospital, Bundoora, and then was a registered mental health nurse at the Austin Hospital from 1992 until 2000.
He said one of the most impactful parts of his early career came when Jeff Kennett began to try to privatise hospitals and restrict access to mental health care.
“I was part of a crisis and assessment team, we were the gatekeepers for the hospitals, but we also managed and treated people in the community who were suffering,” he said.
“We ended up having a lot of refugees coming in from Africa, and there was a real lack of knowledge amongst them about mental health.
“This meant a lot of these struggling people were admitted involuntarily, but even the services weren’t well enough equipped back then to understand what was happening in Africa and assist these people properly.
“So, I went back to school at La Trobe University, I studied and wrote a thesis on the mental health of migrants and refugees, and that became my specialty.”
Francis is still working hard within the industry, with a strong focus of improving the mental health and wellbeing of African youth.
“I spent five months at the Barwon prison with the African youth and helped them with their mental health services,” he said.
“Now currently, we are running a specialist program specifically for young Africans to receive drug and alcohol support.”
Francis has developed the new Kalkallo Wellness Hub at the old St John’s Presbyterian Church grounds built in 1860 that is now serving northern metropolitan Melbourne and nearby regional towns and communities.
The hub provides mental wellness programs, disability support, and alcohol and other drug (AOD) counselling and treatment.
Francis said he aims to make a real difference to people’s lives with the new centre.
“The goal is to change the paradigm of mental illness to mental wellness and mental wellbeing,” he said.
“Especially with everyone’s experiences during COVID we are looking at how people can reconnect with activities.
“Things such as drumming and dancing, drumming and dancing for your life and just being active, which will be the benefits will be not connected with other people, but physically and psychologically.”
Despite his decades of hard work, Francis said he didn’t see the award coming.
“I was initially very, very surprised, very confused and very overwhelmed,” he said. “But I’m humbled to receive this, for all the work that I’ve done being acknowledged and being part of Australia.”
