Our story
It began with a plate of dumplings and a hopeful question
What if talking about our mental wellbeing could feel as warm and natural as sharing a meal with family?
In many of our families, feelings were held quietly, often out of love and a deep wish to protect each other. Food was always there to say what words could not. When someone was tired, grieving or far from home, a plate of something warm arrived.
Dumplings Against Depression was co-founded by Dr Judy Tang OAM and Niharika Hiremath OAM. Judy is a clinical neuropsychologist and the daughter of parents who came to Australia as refugees. Niharika is a mental wellbeing and intersectionality peer practitioner who brings the wisdom of lived experience. Together they saw how hard it can be for people from multicultural communities to find support that understands their language, faith and family, and how beautifully people open up around a shared table.
So we brought the two together. Food first. Then a gentle conversation. Then a warm path to support.
Judy and Niharika lead Our Solis Network together, a community of multicultural mental wellbeing practitioners and people with lived experience, where the first gatherings began. Today Dumplings Against Depression is run by AIDMH (Mental Health of Australia Inc), a for-purpose charity that walks alongside diverse communities to support mental wellbeing, as those communities define it.
Each gathering also makes room for the people doing this work. Community projects share a table with policymakers, government and larger services, and our roundtables help shape a yearly report on the pulse of multicultural mental wellbeing.
How we have grown
- Early years · SolisSmall tables, big conversationsOur Solis Network hosts community celebrations that invite people to share their own views on wellbeing and support.
- 2025 · MelbourneThe Immigration MuseumOver 250 people and 40+ stalls fill the Long Room on 8 November, presented with the Victorian Multicultural Commission and funded by the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
- 2026 · Trade markDumplings Against Depression™We lovingly protect the name so it stays safe, trusted and community-led as it grows.
- October 2026 · MelbourneThe Momo EditionAt the Victorian Pride Centre, standing beside the Nepalese community after the floods, with Lifeline Australia as our first Dumpling Donor.
- November 2026 · SydneyOur first Sydney tableDumplings Against Depression crosses the border for the very first time on 14 November, at Macquarie University.
- 2027 · NextTables across AustraliaA national host week in Mental Health Month, so every family, workplace and community can host their own.
Our co-founders
The two hearts behind the table
Co-founder
Dr Judy Tang OAM, GAICD
Judy is a clinical neuropsychologist, the Founding Director and Co-Chair of AIDMH, and co-leads Our Solis Network with Niharika. She is the daughter of parents who came to Australia as refugees, and she has spent her career helping multicultural communities feel seen and supported. Judy received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2026 Australia Day Honours.
Co-founder
Niharika Hiremath OAM
Niharika is Co-Chair and Managing Director (Lived Expertise) of AIDMH and co-leads Our Solis Network with Judy. She is a mental wellbeing and intersectionality peer practitioner and advocate, and a Lived Experience Partner at Mind Australia. Niharika received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours for services to community health.
What we believe
People are the experts in their own lives
Mental wellbeing is shaped by culture, language, faith, migration, family and belonging. Support works best when it meets people where they already feel safe, and for so many of us that place is the kitchen table.