Gaping problems in service delivery to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers by government departments has been uncovered in an audit.
The Victorian Auditor General’s Office has slammed the lack of real culturally and linguistically appropriate plans in place by government departments, especially in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services.
It found many departments unfairly grouped migrants into a broader group of vulnerable and disadvantaged people, lacked adequate proof
were trained appropriately to deal with migrant communities and that departments weren’t collating analysis on whether their services were addressing the needs of migrants properly, therefore making it hard for them to be accountable and monitored properly.
The report also found that the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship (OMAC) and the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) were in fact overlapping in their jobs and were not being used to their full potential. OMAC cannot hold other departments to account and VMC lacks the statutory mandate to act as an independent advisory body.
These findings weren’t a surprise for many multicultural groups and bodies.
The Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV) was in fact involved with the audit, and gave a few insights into what they have come to understand about the way things are handled in government departments.
ECCV Chair, Eddie Micallef says the findings affirm what the council has known for quite some time.
“It’s not rocket science,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“Our local knowledge led us to understand that there are a lot of government departments that were lacking in their responsive strategies to deal with issues that are related to the CALD communities.”
The audit found that “departments cannot give assurance that their services are meeting client needs” and “could be doing more to collect and analyse client feedback”.
It found that there was a lack of “accurate new settler data” by departments, thereby having no way to track if and where more services need to be introduced.
The lack of data also gives peak bodies like the OMAC and VMC no way of knowing if money needs to be redistributed or channeled into an area where it is needed most.
When funding had been given, the audit found it was not being monitored to see if it had been used effectively and was given to areas where gaps might be.
This lack of initiative, to collect data and have plans in place to deal with new arrivals isn’t a new phenomenon.
The Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) took it upon themselves to collect data on new Greek migrants last year, issuing a survey to its clients and the wider community of new migrants to track what situations they’re in, why they decided to relocate and if they know government services are available to
them.
The AGWS refers their clients to government departments but know first hand the difficulties their clients face in the system.
“A lot of people don’t know the system, they don’t know how to access the services and a lot of time the services don’t provide a lot of assistance so they’re not even able to fill in an application form,” AGWS caseworker Dimitra Lagoudaki said when releasing the survey.
The AGWS has seen a large increase in new migrants asking for assistance and says services in place during the 50s and 60s migration boom are out of date.
The audit found only the Department of Health demonstrated at a strategic level that it understands the needs of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Shadow minister for Ageing, Community Services and Children, Jenny Mikakos says the Government has failed to ensure its own policies are being executed properly.
“Ultimately, the Auditor General’s report shows that the Government is failing to comply with the intention of its own Multicultural Victoria Act,” she told Neos Kosmos.
“If the Government is serious about removing barriers to accessing services facing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, it needs to lift its game.”
The audit identified that if migrants are unable to access services in a timely and effective manner, it can lead to increased disadvantage and disengagement for individuals who are already vulnerable in the community.
Most of the time, departments generally incorporated migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into a broader group of vulnerable or disadvantaged people, meaning their particular needs might not be identified or addressed.
The Victorian Government has introduced a new multicultural policy, Victoria’s Advantage: Unity, Diversity, Opportunity, which introduces key performance indicators for the first time to make their services more accountable, but the audit found that the implementation is based on using “existing datasets and will not enable departments, OMAC or the VMC to determine if services are being effectively accessed”.
The audit recommended that departments report their cultural diversity plans annually to OMAC and VMC. With that, they must prove how their plans are being implemented and show the effectiveness of their service delivery to migrant communities.
It also asked that the government better define the roles and responsibilities of OMAC and the VMC and make them accountable for their work. It also recommended that the two work closely together.
Mr Micallef wants to action from the government to implement these recommendations and will be consulting with all parties on making sure these issues get rectified.
“It’s got to be driven from the Premier down, and key ministers,” he believes.
“We’ll be consulting with all the major political parties, the current government, the Labor opposition and the Greens in the lead up to the election and these will be issues we’ll be raising.”
“And we will be pushing for commitments to the Government, to make those right sort of noises in the right direction to bridge that current gap.”
Matthew Guy, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship says the all the departments have agreed to take on the audit’s recommendations.
“All of the audited Departments have accepted VAGO’s six recommendations to strengthen the accessibility of services for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,” he told Neos Kosmos in a statement.
He says the government had also launched its own review on OMAC and VMC late last year, and it’s findings are currently being considered by the Minister.
“VMC and OMAC need to have clear, defined roles around their responsibilities,” the Minister said.
“They need to have stronger roles within a whole-of-government approach to ensure that we are delivering the best response to our non-English-speaking communities and any new communities coming into Victoria.”