The commonwealth has just announced funding of $5.4 million to extend program aimed at “empowering migrant and refugee women to discuss important health issues in their native languages”.
This initiative, known as the Health in My Language (HiML) program, will be delivered by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health across all states and territories in 2025-2026. It will be important for older Greek Australian women, and those with Greek as their first language, who can deal with critical and other women’s health issues in a setting tailored to their needs
HiML recruits, trains, and coordinates bicultural women’s health educators who reach out to these multicultural communities, ensuring health education sessions are conducted in the participants’ own languages.
Since its inception, the HiML program has educated women in multicultural communities on topics such as sexual and reproductive health, cancer screening -including bowel, breast, and cervical cancer.
Ged Kearney the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, said the program is important, because “all women deserve the best possible healthcare”.
“We must break down prohibitive barriers like English proficiency and cultural barriers that place taboos on certain health issues.
“Our government is pleased to continue supporting the program as part of our solid commitment to health equity for women and girls, and people of all genders from diverse backgrounds,” Kearney added.
Julian Hill Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs highlighted the program’s success saying that “the great promise of Australian multiculturalism is the promise of a fair go – that everybody has access to the information and services they need to have a fair crack at life”.
“The extension of this program will build on that success, ensuring women and girls can continue to make informed decisions around their health.”
