Strategies towards a Culturally Compentent
Disability Services Sector

"A community where everyone, regardless of background or disability, feels welcome, included and supported"

Strategies towards a culturally competent disability services sector

'Cultural competence' means that individuals, agencies and systems have the capacity, skills and knowledge to respond to the needs of a culturally diverse community.

For the disability services sector to become culturally competent and provide equitable, efficient services to people from a non- English speaking background, a range of strategies that are built on access and equity principles need to be put in place. Strategies based on these principles need to involve government and government agencies, as well as non-government, ethno-specific/multicultural agencies and 'mainstream' disability and human service agencies.

Equitable Access to Information

Although equitable information provision has been considered an important issue by government departments and disability service providers, it has been, at best, haphazard and inconsistent. The lack of available information ranges from information about different disabilities and about changing community attitudes to disability, to information about services available to people with disability. In the main for people from a NESB the consequences are two-fold:

• People from a NESB with disability know little about disability, their rights and available opportunities; and
• Families, carers and NESB communities have little knowledge about disability and services available, resulting in stigmatisation and isolation of people with disability and their families within their own communities.

Furthermore, service providers (and Governments) know little about people from a NESB with disability and have little understanding about how to facilitate communication between people from a NESB with disability and disability service providers.

Useful Strategies

• Agencies to conduct community education and information campaigns to NESB communities to increase awareness about disability issues and disability services.
• Agencies to facilitate formal and informal links between ethnic communities, disability services and government agencies.
• Government agencies to effectively monitor contractual arrangements with disability service providers to ensure that service providers comply with Access and Equity principles, produce information in community languages and utilise interpreters as required.
• Agencies to lobby governments to provide additional and adequate funding for interpreters and translators.

Equitable Access to Disability Services

The main consequence of the lack of equity of access to disability services has been that 3 out of 4 people from a NESB with disability miss out on disability services.

Useful Strategies

• Agencies to undertake Access and Equity audits and develop Access and Equity plans.
• Agencies to access culturally specific information and provide disability information in community languages.
• Agencies to access a diverse range of ethno-specific workers who act as cultural consultants.

Equitable Access to Service Development

This area relates to a range of functions within an agency including service development, planning and monitoring with the aim of providing culturally competent services. Traditionally, this area has not been considered in discussions about Access and Equity.

The main consequence of a lack of consistent service development has been that people from a NESB with disability have fallen through the gaps.

Useful Strategies

• Agencies' consultation processes to reflect the cultural diversity of the target population.
• Agencies to transform identified needs into policy advice and strategies on local, regional and state-wide level.
• Government agencies to implement and monitor effective contractual arrangements with service agencies to ensure that they meet the diverse needs of their target group.

Measuring Outcomes

The overall result will be a service system which is able to effectively, efficiently and equitably cater to all people with disability irrespective of their background.

A culturally competent disability services sector is in place when the following outcomes are achieved:

• Participation rates of people from a NESB with disability in disability services match the distribution rate of the general population in a target area.
• Planning and policy making in state funded disability services is culturally competent at all levels.
• Government agencies, disability planning and disability policy making is culturally competent.
• The Government agencies responsible for the delivery, funding and monitoring of disability services are culturally competent.

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