Abdullah Zahrouni thought he would find peace in Australia after fleeing religious persecution in Iran.
Instead, he has experienced ongoing nightmares, anxiety and trauma since arriving with his family as refugees five years ago.
Mr Zahrouni sought protection abroad after the Iranian guard detained him for weeks and pressured him to embrace Islam.
"I was detained and tortured for weeks because I belonged to a different religious group," he told AAP.
"I asked what my crime was - a mullah said that if you are not Muslim it's a big crime."
Mr Zahrouni follows the Mandaean religion, which reveres John the Baptist and water's purifying force, and has about 10,000 members in Iran.
"I lost everything," the 58-year-old said of his experience in Iran.
"Then I came here with a huge debt, which robbed me of sleep at night."
More than $135 million over four years was set aside in the federal budget to improve torture and trauma supports for refugees.
Jorge Aroche, who heads a refugee support service in NSW, welcomed the funding boost.
He said trauma experienced by refugees was complex and people with lived experience of forced migration often had poorer mental health than the general population.
"Refugees tend to have more than one traumatic event," Mr Aroche said.
"This can include fleeing war, taking a boat journey, spending time in camps and long periods in limbo separated from family, which makes it more complex."
Pakistani asylum seeker Mujahid Hussain has been on an Australian bridging visa for the last decade.
He was injured in a religiously motivated bombing that killed 10 people and escaped Pakistan soon afterwards, travelling to Australia by boat and spending two years in detention.
His claim for protection was rejected in 2012 and he's lived in the community with little support ever since.
Struggling mentally and finding it hard to sleep, Mr Hussain said there was no end in sight.
"They ask me to wait," he said.
"I have waited too long, two years in the camp and about 10 years on a bridging visa, I'm going crazy."
University of South Australia mental health and suicide prevention expert Nicholas Procter called on governments and service providers to take a trauma-informed approach to asylum seekers and refugees.
"These people have endured and survived very difficult times," Professor Procter said.
"They require culturally based programs and a community approach to ongoing support, involving the person and their family in decision making about what's right for them."
Mursal Sadat was a member of the Afghan women's football team, which the Australian government evacuated to safety in 2021 when the Taliban reclaimed the country.
"The scene at Kabul Airport shocked me as I watched the Taliban, with whips in hand, lashing people to separate families," she said.
Ms Sadat said she received little psychological support following her evacuation but came forward for help once her mental health deteriorated.
Mental health remains taboo among Afghan refugees in Australia, which Ms Sadat is trying to break.
"I encourage my friends to ask for help," she said.
"They would say 'I'm not mad' and I tell them 'I am not mad either'.
"I go to get help because your mind is also part of your body - when it gets sick, you should treat it."
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