Refugee Min Aung Kyaw was two when his family fled conflict in Myanmar, but the impact on his mental health has been profound.
His family moved after the 1988 uprising against the country's violent military government.
After spending some time in Thailand, his father, who was involved in the rebellion's fight against the military in Myanmar, was given refugee status in Australia.
The family made it to Sydney in 1997.
Mr Kyaw moved to Wagga Wagga in New South Wales 10 years later.
He now runs an Asian grocery store in the CBD but keeps in contact with family still living under military rule in Myanmar.
"The result of having the military dictatorship running the country is that people are getting poor and people don't have equal opportunity to do whatever," Mr Kyaw said.
"I just want them to be free and happy."
Mental impacts
He said the weight of knowing he had a good life while others were suffering in his home country had taken a toll.
"It's like mentally, I'm living in two worlds," he said.
He said he could not do much more than send money to look after whoever needed food.
""I guess I feel guilty because I'm having a good life here," he said.
He said although he had never received mental health support, he was aware of a government program specifically for refugees who had escaped war.
"Whether it reaches out to all the refugees or not, that's another thing," Mr Kyaw said.
A widespread issue
Multicultural Council of Griffith president Carmel La Rocca said her organisation supported refugees, particularly from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
She said many experienced anxiety because they were concerned about their family back home.
"Then there's the more severe ones where they suffer from post traumatic stress, major depression," she said.
Ms La Rocca said it could be challenging for refugees to access help in some regional areas due to a lack of services and language barriers.
"It's very difficult to get them help in Griffith because you need trauma counsellors and they're not here," she said.
"They pretty much all understand English but it's one thing to understand English, it's another thing to understand the meaning."
Mr Kyaw said he hoped to one day get back to his home country.
"That's what I've been missing in my life," he said.
"All my life I didn't have a chance to live in my country. It's kind of like homesickness."
