Take action
Good jobs, better services, great lifestyle
Throughout Multicultural Queensland Month, we will celebrate how organisations and individuals are breaking down barriers to create opportunities for everyone to access and enjoy good jobs. We will showcase the many ways organisations deliver better services that are accessible to all, and we will celebrate the richness that cultural diversity adds to our great lifestyle.
Good jobs, better services, and supporting cultural diversity are part of the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community to build future prosperity and growth across the state.
Explore some of the ways you can take action during the Multicultural Queensland Month – and beyond!
Good jobs
Explore how to remove barriers and create opportunities for everyone to access and enjoy good jobs.
- Use inclusive language – Language matters, especially in the workplace. Diversity Council Australia (DCA) developed the Words at Work Guide for workplaces to show how inclusive language can improve workplace culture and drive productivity.
- Diversify your workforce – Source culturally diverse talent and maximise the value of a multicultural workforce. Check out a list of organisations | list of organisations (pg. 20) that can assist with recruitment and employment.
- Strengthen your cultural capability – Stereotypes and unconscious bias can be barriers to employment. SBS has a range of training to help your organisation strengthen its cultural capability and help create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
- Ensure your board is diverse – The Diversity on Boards Toolkit | Diversity on Boards Toolkit , while aimed at Queensland Government agencies, includes tips that any organisation, club or group can use to increase culturally diverse participation and representation on boards or committees.
- Assess your workplace’s cultural diversity – Use DCA’s Counting Culture guide to help map the cultural diversity of your workforce and assess how well your organisation supports the markets, customers, and clients it wants to serve.
- Volunteer – This can give new arrivals local experience and connections. Find volunteering opportunities through Volunteering Queensland.
Better services
There are many ways we can deliver better services that are accessible to all. Here are some resources to help create more culturally capable service delivery.
- Tools and resources for culturally responsive services – This comprehensive suite of tools and resources includes checklists, information and guidance on how to design, deliver and evaluate services that are culturally responsive.
- Effective engagement – Engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities is central to designing services that are culturally responsive. Check out these guides for tips on how to effectively engage with CALD communities
- A Guide to effectively engaging with CALD communities: Based on lessons learnt during COVID-19 – Centacare Far North Queensland.
- Supporting and learning from CALD community-level engagement: The importance of boundary spanning roles – Dr Paul Schmidt.
- Use interpreters – To overcome language barriers between staff and clients, use interpreters for better service delivery outcomes for people with limited or no English proficiency. Here are some tips on how to work with an interpreter. (PDF)
- Display the National Interpreter Symbol – This national public information symbol provides a simple way of indicating where people with limited or no English proficiency can ask for an interpreter when using government and other services.
Great lifestyle
Celebrate the richness that cultural diversity adds to our great lifestyle. There’s plenty of fun ways to learn more about and celebrate our diversity!
- Organise a human library experience – For inspiration, check out how they did this in Bunbury, Western Australia. It’s a great way to learn about the story and perspectives of someone who may be from a culture different to your own.
- Join a local group or meet-up – This is a great way to find other people with interests similar to yours. Meet-ups are generally formed around a topic or interest and will set a time to meet, share, or join local events and activities together. Also, check out InterNations, a network of expats and locals who come together to connect and expand their networks with locals.
- Ask yourself the hard questions – Watch this video and reflect on your own experiences, while learning about those of fellow Australians.
- Share a meal and a story – Sharing food is a friendly way to bring people together. Invite your colleagues, friends or neighbours to a morning or afternoon tea, lunch or dinner and invite everyone to share something of their cultural heritage.
- Learn more about a culture or religion by checking out the SBS Cultural Atlas. You can learn about everything from what foods are halal according to Islam, to what ‘fa’a Samoa’ or ‘the Samoan Way’ means.
- Cultural days of significance – Familiarise yourself with days of cultural significance and plan ways to join in celebrations. For example, take the family to Sunnybank during Lunar New Year to join the festivities! Keep an eye on our events calendar throughout the year for more fun ways to celebrate our diversity.
Did you know Queensland has a Multicultural Charter?
A charter is a formal document describing the rights, aims, or principles of an organisation or group of people.
The Multicultural Queensland Charter sets out Queensland’s vision of being an inclusive, harmonious and united state. The Charter has eight principles which speak of: democracy and laws; working together; freedom of expression; equality and equity; mutual respect and fair treatment; participation; communication and understanding; and belonging and resilience.
All Queenslanders can bring these principles to life in their community, workplace or school.
Have a look at the plain English guide to help you put the principles into practice!