Lost in translation

LOST IN TRANSLATION

In its parliamentary submission on crisis communications with culturally and linguistically diverse people, the NSW Council of Social Services outlines key ways organisations can do better. 

Communities, and the non-government organisations (NGOs) that support them, have faced many large-scale crises in the last few years. During the height of the COVID-19 Delta outbreak, in response to the strict lockdown rules in twelve local government areas in south and south western Sydney, NCOSS and multicultural NGOs convened an emergency responses forum to share information and workshop solutions, including addressing the growing sense of fear and discrimination among these communities. 

The experiences of these multicultural NGOs, and the communities they support, have informed the joint submission by NCOSS and Muslim Women Australia to the NSW Parliamentary Committee on Community Services’ inquiry into improving crisis communications to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.  

In our submission we highlight some of the key issues that might be useful for NGOs engaging with CALD groups:

• When in distress, people struggle to take in information, in any language
  • In addition to written material translated into other languages, use multiple formats and channels, such as audio and video, online and print, to communicate crisis information. NCOSS research into vaccine hesitancy among CALD communities highlighted that social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp groups are popular sources of information; and that too much detail or technical jargon isn’t helpful.  
  • Rather than relying on mass communication from Government sources, conveying information through trusted, place-based NGOs that have strong pre-existing relationships with local communities can help to reinforce key messages 
  • Key words or phrases can have a different meaning in different cultural contexts. For example, telling people not to visit other ‘households’, was taken by some to mean that it was still okay to visit extended family, who were not considered a separate household. Consultation with community leaders and local organisations on messaging would have helped to overcome these issues.   
  • Muslim Women Australia suggests considering how people from different cultures process information based on their current situation and previous experiences of trauma, including experiences under repressive regimes.

• Equity 
  • Muslim Women Australia suggests crisis communications for CALD communities are more effective when there is an understanding of the spectrum of needs across multicultural communities, not only linguistically, but in terms of access, equity and economic circumstances.
  • Employing a language of trust is crucial in engaging CALD communities. Crisis communications should not be ‘othering’ and reinforce polarising rhetoric that triggers discrimination of CALD communities. 
  • Crisis communications should aim to create a sense of calm and hope and be based on a strengths-based framework, recognising the social capital that CALD communities bring and the value they add to the economy.

• Balance compliance with trust 
  • Use trusted community leaders to explain crisis information. MECA (Mt Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency) found that Urdu and Arabic-speaking communities relied on trusted community leaders, doctors and family to dismantle misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
  • The most effective outcomes are achieved where there is an established connection between communities and government. For example, as a result of strong, existing connections, during the height of lockdown, Fairfield City Council and Fairfield-based NGOs were able to quickly establish emergency food support for vulnerable residents.

NGOs are well-connected with their respective communities and provide an integral link between communities and emergency authorities. Effective crisis management requires a formalised relationship between NGOs and local, regional and state-wide emergency management structures.

To access the NCOSS and Muslim Women Australia submission, visit: https://www.ncoss.org.au/policy-advocacy/policy-research-publications/ncoss-mwa-cald/