What are the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability in Australia?

The Disability Royal Commission wants to investigate the specific experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability to better understand violence against, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people from diverse backgrounds and improve responses when they do occur. The Royal Commission seeks responses to the latest issues paper entitled “The experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability Issues Paper”.

The Royal Commission would like to hear from members of the public, but particularly people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their supporters, on the questions set out in the issues paper. We seek information about the attitudes and understanding of disability within culturally and linguistically diverse communities; the experiences of people with disability from such communities; and how we can move towards the goal of a more inclusive society.

Previous reports have found that people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are ‘often stigmatised and isolated because of attitudes and misconceptions in their own communities’.  This can be exacerbated by attitudes towards disability and cultural and linguistic diversity held by the broader community.

We want to hear about challenges and barriers, as well as good practices, and ways to better prevent and reduce violence against, and abuse, neglect and exploitation of, culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability.

This includes the interaction between people with disability and systems and services such as education, health (GPs, hospitals, community health services, mental health services, specialists and dentists), immigration, justice (courts, prisons, police), transport, workplaces, group homes and other accommodation arrangements, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It also includes their relationships with those around them and their participation in the community.

The Royal Commission uses the term ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ to reflect a diverse range of people from different backgrounds. Our definition includes:

• People born in a country where English is not the main spoken language, as well as those who have a cultural heritage different from the dominant Australian culture.
• Migrants and refugees (including asylum seekers) who identify as being from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. This includes those who recently arrived and those who have lived in Australia for some time.
• People born in Australia who identify as being from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, even where their families have been here for several generations.

We also recognise that people who are deaf or hearing impaired and who use Auslan or another sign language as their first language share a distinct, rich culture and language.  Some members of the Deaf community identify as being culturally and linguistically diverse.

The Royal Commission seeks a better understanding of the experiences of particular groups within culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including refugees, people with disability on temporary visas, and people with disability in immigration detention, community detention or ‘alternative places of detention’. We also want to know more about culturally and linguistically diverse women and children and young people with disability.

We are seeking your feedback in the following areas:

• We want to understand how culture and language may affect the life course of someone with a disability from a culturally and linguistically diverse background
• We want to understand how culturally and linguistically diverse people with a disability overcome language barriers when trying to access support, and the pathways they follow to ask for assistance
• We want to understand cultural attitudes and the language of disability within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We want to hear about how these influence individuals with disability, and how they interact with their communities.
• We want to know how communities can have positive or protective attitudes towards disability. We want to understand the reasons that people may not identify as having a disability even though they have an impairment.
• We want to know how the different ways disability is understood in culturally and linguistically diverse communities may support and include people with disability, or how they might exclude or disadvantage them.

At the end of the issues paper you will find a set of questions. Please answer as many of these questions as you wish. You do not need to answer them all and your response does not have to address any of the questions.

Responses can be in writing, an audio recording or a video recording. Responses can be in any language. The Royal Commission will translate the response to English.

We encourage responses by 11 June 2021. Responses will also be accepted after this date.

All responses will inform the work of the Royal Commission.

This issues paper will be translated into 9 core languages and will be published along with the English language version.