Page 842 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
For a choice to be effective, it needs to be informed. This means that Canberrans from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who live with disabilities need to fully grasp the options so that they can seek the supports that suit them as individuals within the cultural frameworks that give sense, meaning and purpose to their existence. This is a process that we all engage in, but it is easy for those who fit comfortably into the dominant culture to completely overlook how culturally determined their own needs and expectations are or how much the policies they implement and the services they provide are reflections of cultural expectations that are not shared by everyone.
The simple reality is that CALD Canberrans also live with disabilities of various kinds. If those opposite genuinely care about that fact, we will no longer be the sole jurisdiction in Australia without a designated advocate and appropriate programs to breach the space between disability services and multicultural residents, including seniors. Providing a CALD advocate and these programs would help to address the following issues.
The first is cultural competence. John Stone has noted that this concept:
… implies the ability to understand and respond to the needs and concerns of individuals and their families from ethnic and minority communities, with responses based on an accurate understanding of their specific cultural practices.
Simply put, people will not access services that are not culturally relevant. It is difficult for all disability advocacy groups in the ACT, many of which are small operations, to help at a sufficient level of cultural competence. It requires a person who has actually been trained to know how to work with people from different cultures who live with disabilities. This includes the necessary ability to engage in cross-cultural communication. Without this ability, many other efforts, no matter how well intentioned, are doomed to fail.
Second, a dedicated CALD advocate and appropriate programs would also help to address the persistent lack of information experienced by many culturally and linguistically diverse Canberrans. It is one thing if people know about available services and decline them but in many cases, research has found, people in multicultural communities have no idea what services actually exist or how to access them. Having key information translated into relevant languages is crucial.
It is also necessary to provide information in relevant community languages via face-to-face meetings and a variety of media. An advocate who understands what needs to be shared and can make sure that those messages reach their target is an essential element in making sure that choices made by CALD residents with disabilities in Canberra are genuinely informed. Another important role of an advocate in this space would be to link agencies that provide disability services with those in the multicultural sector, guaranteeing a free flow of information back and forth.
Last, as experts have pointed out, cultural explanations and perceptions of disability can influence people’s willingness to seek support and the type of support they will
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video