Victoria is home to significant cultural diversity, making our state stronger, more dynamic and setting us apart from other cities.
My parents migrated to Australia to forge a new future and contribute to this great state. It’s a familiar story, shared with almost half of Victorians who were either born overseas or have a parent born overseas.
Appreciating the value of this diversity and the importance of assisting our whole community to thrive, it is vital we support people from every background and culture to improve their health outcomes.
In order to do this, we must recognise that our multicultural communities still face significant health inequality. Their experiences in the health sector can be impacted by attitudes, systems and structures which can interact to create exclusion.
Both established and new migrant communities feel the impact of these factors. For those who are newly arrived, learning a new language, securing housing, accessing employment or education, and navigating complex service systems are just some of the many challenges faced when starting a new life in Victoria.
Drawing on the deep community connections that already exist in Victoria and the cultural knowledge and wisdom of our many multicultural communities, we can empower our services to be culturally competent, more accessible, and free from discrimination and racism.
We have a responsibility to improve health equity in Victoria, which is why the Department of Health has launched its Multicultural Health Action Plan 2023–27. It is a roadmap to support Victorians from diverse backgrounds to access safe, equitable and culturally competent healthcare through targeted policies and programs, better data collection and evidence, and strengthened engagement with communities.
The Plan is one of several initiatives and resources designed to support health services and health professionals to deliver services that are inclusive and culturally appropriate.
I encourage you to familiarise yourself with the Department’s Action Plan and support its strategic objectives that promote social cohesion and aim to create better outcomes for Victoria’s multicultural communities.
Yours sincerely,
Kat Theophanous MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health and Member for Northcote
Reviewed 26 March 2024