Main issues facing people from an NESB
with disability and their families and carers

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Anglo-Australian Service Provision

In NSW, three out of four people from a NESB with disability miss out on receiving State or Commonwealth funded disability services simply because of their ethnicity.

Many services seem unable to accommodate linguistic and cultural diversity. The disability services system has not adopted even the most basic mechanisms to accommodate people from a NESB.

Currently, there are insufficient strategies and practices in place to ensure that people from a NESB with disability and their families and carers can access services and/or participate in decision-making.

HA Ha, a Vietnamese woman with an intellectual disability, wants to receive living skills training. She has been accepted by a local service but is not learning very much because the training is performed in English and she has limited language skills.

Lack of Accessible Information

Access to information is often the first step towards people making meaningful choices and participating in the community. Access to information means, in effect, access to opportunities and therefore choice.

A memorandum from the Premier (No.98/22) points out that: "NSW Government Agencies including Government Trading Enterprises are expected to ensure that contracts with private providers and funding agreements with non-government organisations identify a budget for interpreting and translating appropriate to the service provided and the needs of the clients of the service. In relation to state owned Corporations, I consider that this provision provides a sound approach when dealing with people from a non-English speaking background. Funding agencies are also expected to ensure through program monitoring that where such funding is made that language services are provided to clients who need them."

However, despite this memorandum, the costs for language services are mostly unbudgeted, resulting in:

• a reduction in community services available to people from a NESB with disability;
• a lack of information;
• the provision of inappropriate information; and
• an overall increase in the use of family members and other relatives as interpreters, a clear violation of Standard 4 of the Disability Services Standards.

Financial Vulnerability

In general, people from a NESB rank lower on the socio-economic scale when compared to their Anglo-Australian counterparts. This is often explained by:

• Level and recognition of educational qualifications;
• Level and recognition of work skills and experience; and
• Level of English language proficiency.

To make matters worse, in Australia all migrants (except for those immigrating on humanitarian grounds) have to wait two years before they can access income support. However, migrants with a disability, including their carers, have to wait ten years before they are eligible for any income support, such as Disability Support Pension or Carers Pension.

In addition, those eligible for support pensions, other support payments or services are frequently not aware of their entitlements. This is because successive Government information strategies have failed to communicate new initiatives and programs to people with low English proficiency.

Carer/Family 'Burn Out'

In general, carers from a NESB only seek help when they a reach crisis point and not before. Excessive responsibilities are carried by families and carers from a NESB and they may experience multiple layers of disadvantage - disability, poverty, disruption to the family as a result of migration, diminished support networks and lack of sufficient and appropriate services.

In general, carers from a NESB have a 'grin and bear it' attitude, even more so than their Anglo-Australian counterparts. Asking for support is seen as failing, not only in one's caring role, but also failing the family, the community and, most importantly, the person they are caring for.

FRANCESCO The Infante family comes from Italy. They have 4 children, 2 of whom have an intellectual disability. Francesco, the eldest, has multiple disabilities - he cannot walk, communicate or see. He has high support needs and stays at home most of the time and receives limited respite care. His mother cares for him on a full-time basis and his father works full-time.

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