Multicultural Marketing helps a very challenged group
(left to right) Luciana Ozcan, Head of Asia Desk Australasia, CMC Markets, Chris Gollan, Project Officer, Multicultural Health Communication Service, Anne Marie Dwyer, A/Executive Director Community Access DADHC, Warren Fairfax, Principal Policy Officer, Community Access DADHC, Diana Qian, Executive Director Multicultural Advocacy Association of NSW, Barry Gamba, Producer, Information and Cultural Exchange, Michael Camit, Marketing Manager, Multicultural Health Communication Service
The NSW Wales Department of Ageing and Disability and Homecare has won the prestigious Government Award at the National Multicultural Marketing Awards in Sydney tonight, for helping families from war zones, with disabled children.
The Awards which have been conducted by the Community Relations Commission of NSW for the last 20 years were presented at a gala dinner hosted by the NSW Minister for Citizenship and Fair Trading, Virginia Judge.
Congratulating the winners of the Government Awards tonight, the Chair of the Commission, Stepan Kerkyasharian said:
"The Department has taken a serious issue and employed state-of-the-art multicultural marketing techniques to deliver information and guidance, vital to the well-being of families from Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are already facing significant settlement challenges."
Part of the project was to produce a booklet and a DVD - Raising Kids together: Information for families who have a child or young person with a disability - in Arabic, Assyrian, Dari, Dinka and Juba Arabic.
"These people face some of the greatest challenges ever experienced by refugees to this country. Just imagine the added task for a refugee of caring for a disabled child.
"However the project material sets out to guide them gently through those issues with information about the availability of disability services, rights, responsibilities and important contacts," he said.
The Department had solid partners in this project - the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association, Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) and the Multicultural Health Communication Service
The first challenge was that many in the targetted group have only limited access to media and often limited literacy, even in their first language. Bi-lingual community workers were part of the project, taking part in face-to-face discussion to give reassurance and to overcome the challenges of limited literacy. They also spoke at community meetings.
Radio messages and interviews also backed up the face-to-face meetings as another means of overcoming the difficulties created by limited literacy.
Whilst advertisements were placed in Arabic newspapers, editorial material was also published by English language suburban newspapers.
The DVD tells real life stories using a combination of drama and documentary styles to convey information relating to disability. It also employed storytelling techniques to deal with stigma, cultural taboos, discriminating, shame and isolation.
It also explores the sensitive issue of the impact that having a disabled child in a family can have on applications for permanent residence, as well as attitudes that a disabled child is a curse bringing shame to the family and, converselyh, that it is a gift from God, to be cherished.
Before this there was no audio material available in these languages, on this subject.
One thousand copies were made in the five languages. The demand was great and stocks were quickly exhausted.
"It is very satisfying that, through the process of these awards which have highlighted the need for government information campaigns aimed at migrant audiences need to be thoroughly professional, we see a wonderful project like this, meeting the information needs of a very deserving group in our society." Mr Kerkyasharian concluded.