The Australian Government’s $31 million COVID-19 vaccination public information campaign is rolling out across the country, with an additional $1.3 million provided for peak multicultural organsations to help reach culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
A comprehensive plan, including communication activities and community engagement strategies, has been developed in partnership with multicultural specialist agencies and with advice from the national CALD Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group, to reach people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Messages will target specific multicultural groups to ensure everyone in Australia has a full understanding of the vaccination program. Many people working in sectors such as aged care will be in the first groups to be vaccinated and are from CALD communities, and it is critical that they receive translated information that is culturally appropriate and is correctly translated.
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The Government is working with SBS to finalise short videos explaining the vaccine rollout in more than 60 languages, and with the Migration Council of Australia to produce an animated vaccine explainer in 29 languages. These products will be provided to multicultural peak bodies and networks and available online.
As more information becomes available through expert medical advice and complete data sets from clinical trials, the Department will provide timely updates through its multicultural channels.
The Australian Government is confident, given Australia’s current high vaccination rates, everyone able to take up the vaccine will do so in high numbers.
During the August 2020 COVID lockdowns, the Federal and Victorian governments came under fire for releasing nonsensical language translations of coronavirus public health messages.
In an examination done by the Australian Broadcast Corporation at the time, glaring translation errors were found, whilst another “failed to differentiate between two entirely different languages”.