Page 2547 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 1 August 2018
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possibility will fall in love with Canberra during their period of study and subsequent work experience and will move heaven and earth to make this place their permanent home.
Another clear indicator of how diverse Canberra’s population is comes from the 2016 census. A non-English language is spoken in 23.8 per cent of the territory’s households. This means that when we take walks along our residential streets, it is entirely possible that in every fourth house that we pass the people inside may not be speaking English to each other at that point in time. The range of languages that are being spoken is vast. Together, we Canberrans reported nearly 200 different nationalities in the last census. Residents with an assortment of cultures and different faiths, often speaking a multitude of languages, enrich our city.
Research has found strong positive links between culturally and linguistically diverse populations and things such as business performance, educational outcomes, technological and workplace innovation, improved decision-making, increased creativity, community resilience, economic sustainability and, of course, the simple enjoyment that comes from enjoying each other’s contributions to the vibrancy of a place.
At the same time, culturally and linguistically diverse, or CALD, residents often face a unique set of difficulties. Language barriers are one of the more obvious examples. For instance, low English proficiency amongst migrant and refugee families can limit opportunities to fully engage with the broader community and interfere with access to a whole range of government, professional and community services.
Research has shown, moreover, that even CALD families that are proficient at English frequently face extra hurdles when accessing services from specialist providers or practitioners who rely on professional jargon. Residents from CALD backgrounds often struggle to know about or to understand the services that are available to them. This may be tied in with language barriers but can also reflect insufficient dissemination of information at the local level about the range of services available in their community.
Even when an awareness of essential services exists, it is likewise important that such services be tailored to the needs of different communities and provided in culturally appropriate ways. Social exclusion, inequality of opportunity and lack of social capital are just some of the other barriers often faced by our CALD residents. These barriers are widely acknowledged. It is therefore necessary to work together to address and to minimise them. Numerous multicultural community leaders and everyday Canberra residents from a number of backgrounds have shared their experiences and their desires with me over the past several years. Many of these hopes and aspirations are reflected in the ACT multicultural framework that was introduced three years ago.
Through the framework this government made a pledge to Canberrans, first, to effectively deliver services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; second, to provide the tools and resources for all Canberrans to reach their full potential; and, third, to ensure that all can benefit from our rich and vibrant cultural diversity. This five-year framework presents a first multicultural action plan
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