A Message from the Chief Minister Introduction from the Minister for Social Inclusion Achieving Social Inclusion Safer Families Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People Culturally and Linguistically Diverse People People with Disability Children and Young People LGBTIQ People Older People Supporting Disadvantaged People & Families Mental Health Law & Justice Education
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people
The ACT has a strong history of valuing and promoting our diverse cultural communities. In particular, the 2010-2015 ACT Multicultural Strategy has delivered a range of initiatives and programs aimed at supporting the social inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse Canberrans.
Celebrating 20 years
In February 2016, the National Multicultural Festival saw its 20th year of celebration in the ACT. In total, an estimated 280,000 people attended the festival, and there were over 4500 community volunteers. The National Multicultural Festival has important social and community benefits including:
- strengthening communities and building bonding and bridging social capital;
- reducing social isolation and exclusion;
- contributing to generating a sense of identity and self-confidence;
- changing perceptions of the nature of the ACT community; and
- raising the profile of community groups.
Complementing this, we continue to celebrate our cultural diversity and offer assistance to those from diverse backgrounds in times of need:
- The ACT was the first Australian jurisdiction to declare a Refugee Welcome Zone last year which was a pinnacle moment for the Government and for our city.
- Since 2011, approximately 3,000 projects have been funded through our multicultural grants programs to support local multicultural community groups to help build our harmonious and inclusive society.
- As part of making every ACT Public School inclusive, students who require intensive English language support are able to attend one of the six Introductory English Centres. Three year olds who have had little to no exposure to English can enrol in preschool for six hours per week from July to December in the year before they would otherwise start preschool. These centres are an important part of our inclusivity practice in ACT public schools and help prepare students both academically and culturally for future learning in a mainstream school.
- On 20 March 2015, the new Gungahlin Introductory English Centre (IEC) at Palmerston District Primary School was opened. This centre is the sixth IEC established in Canberra. It provides a more suitable location for newly arrived students residing in Gungahlin to begin their education in a safe and supportive environment.
- The Teacher Quality Institute runs an accredited English as an Additional Language/ Dialect Teachers’ Professional Learning Forum to continue to improve teacher understanding of the complexities for students transitioning from an Introductory English Centre into mainstream settings.
- At the Alexander Maconochie Centre educational courses including Remedial Language, Literacy and Numeracy continue to be facilitated. Detainees who enter custody with significant language barriers are also permitted, where possible, to converse with members of their own culture in order to reduce feelings of isolation.
- A Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learning Coordinator has been appointed by Libraries ACT to engage with local CALD communities to ensure that the library is developing services and collections to meet their needs.
- ACT Health initiatives include the development and implementation of “Towards Culturally Appropriate and Inclusive Services – A Co-ordinating Framework for ACT Health (2014-18), staff development, including face-to-face and e-learning on cultural competence and working with interpreters, and the development of internet materials and other resources to support consumers, including publication in print and electronic versions of Using Health Services in the ACT, and a related publication Which Health Service do I need?, currently available in seven languages.
The 2015-2020 ACT Multicultural Framework
The 2015-2020ACT Multicultural Framework and first action plan were released in late 2015. The Framework is built around three broad themes: accessible and responsive services; citizenship, participation, and cohesion; and capitalising on the benefits of cultural diversity.
The Framework gives full expression to the Government’s commitment to promoting equality of opportunity, maintaining social cohesion, building social capital, and minimising social exclusion for culturally and linguistically diverse Canberrans.
Some key actions that will be progressed under this Framework include a focus on young people through leadership and recognition initiatives, enhancing access to information for refugees, and further investment in social cohesion initiatives.
Specific initiatives include:
- targeted programs to assist new arrivals to gain meaningful employment, building on from the success of programs like the Work Experience and Support Program and tailoring to the unique needs of particular cultural groups;
- delivering an online register of interest for people from our culturally and linguistically diverse communities to serve on ACT boards and committees, to
ensure decisions made reflect the diverse needs of people in our community; - encouraging culturally and linguistically diverse communities to utilise existing community facilities for cultural events through the introduction of an online booking system for Government managed facilities; and
- developing an online calendar and directory to promote opportunities to connect with multicultural groups and to celebrate the vibrancy that multicultural groups add to this city.
