Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Women
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) women are those whose first language is not English and/or who were born in a country other than Australia. They may have migrated to Australia, or they might be refugees or asylum seekers. The ACT has a significant population of CALD women; at the time of the 2006 Census, 7.6% of ACT women did not speak English at home.
CALD women are at greater risk of poor health and wellbeing than the mainstream population. Research has shown that CALD women in the ACT are “at risk of marginalisation and isolation socially, culturally, politically and economically (Maslen, 2008, 22).” Barriers to accessing services and achieving social inclusion in the ACT include: language, transport, immigration concerns, discrimination and racism, domestic violence, addiction, lack of cultural understanding and sensitivity by mainstream services, being unfamiliar with services and systems, trauma and mental health concerns, and poor recognition of prior learning and qualifications (Brewer, 2009).
Current WCHM Projects
Research Report: Sudanese Women in the ACT
In recent years, Australia has accepted an increasing number of immigrants and humanitarian refugees from Sudan, largely due to internal conflicts and widespread poverty within the country. In fact, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006), the Sudanese community is one of the fastest growing groups in Australia.
Of particular interest to WCHM is the emerging community of Sudanese women who have resettled in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Department of Immigration and Citizenship [DIAC] (2006) reveals that this number has increased, and there are concerns that these women may have unmet health care needs. Health care in Sudan and in camps in neighboring countries where Sudanese have sought refuge is usually very limited. Common medical conditions affecting Sudanese refugees include tuberculosis, HIV, poor eyesight, diabetes, malnutrition and high blood pressure (Refugee Council of Australia, 2005).
Mwanangwa Mpaso, a Masters student from the University of Canberra, has been working with WCHM to undertake research on the access and utilisation of health services by Sudanese women in the ACT.
This research will help WCHM to understand the nature of the challenges and issues Sudanese women may face when seeking health care and help us propose health care, service delivery and policy solutions that will respect the Sudanese women’s values and improve their access to health care.
The research included several forums and interviews with Sudanese women facilitated by local Sudanese women leaders.
Cultural Awareness Training - New and emerging communities
In May 2009, the WCHM hosted a forum for ACT service providers who identified the following 2 key priorities that needed addressing:
Funding for a project to address these issues has been provided by CIT under its new Community Skills/Training Support Grant. This project aims to address 2 identified priority areas:
- Firstly, it will provide cultural awareness training to ACT services, and will have a specific focus on gender differences and the needs of women from large and emerging cultural communities in Canberra, and will aim to build the capacity of ACT service providers.
- Secondly, the project will build the capacity of identified women leaders within the CaLD community, providing them with useful skills such as public speaking, developing training sessions etc.
It is expected that at the conclusion of this project, staff of the ACT women’s services who participate will have a sound knowledge of lthe targetted new and emerging cultural groups in Canberra. They will be particularly aware of the specific issues facing women in these cultures, which will allow them to better meet the needs of the people they support. In addition to this, identified womens from the CaLD communities will have the knowledge and skills to develop and deliver training on their cultures to the broader ACT community, and be leaders and ‘champions’ for cultural understanding.