Take action

Not sure how to take action towards a more inclusive multicultural Queensland?

For individuals

• Ask yourself the hard questions – Watch this video and reflect on your own experiences, while learning about those of fellow Australians.
• Learn more about a culture or religion – check out the SBS Cultural Atlas to learn more about specific cultures and religions.
• Learn more about the refugee experience – listen, watch and read about the experiences of refugees and people seeking asylum to better understand the challenges, issues and opportunities.
• Become an anti-racist ally – Learn practical and simple ways to challenge racism using this guide by Amnesty International.
• Find out who is in your community – Take time to learn about the different cultures and religions in your local community, to help give you greater knowledge and confidence to connect with fellow community members. Use our Search Diversity tool to see who is in your local government area.
• Attend an event during MQM – Head to an event or participate in an activity during MQM to increase your intercultural understanding and connect with people from cultures different to your own. Check out what’s on near you. Some of the many events may already be on our Events Calendar.
• Use your purchase power – Support local migrant-run businesses and social enterprises which support people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
• Volunteer – Volunteer for an organisation supporting migrants and people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Search volunteering opportunities through Volunteering Queensland or contact a local multicultural organisation to see how you can get involved. Use this directory to find organisations are near you.

For workplaces

• Use inclusive language at work – Language matters, especially in the workplace. Diversity Council Australia (DCA) developed the Words at Work Guide for workplaces to show how inclusive language can improve workplace culture and drive productivity.
• Diversify your workforce – Source culturally diverse talent and maximise the value of a multicultural workforce. Check out this list of organisations (pg. 20) that can assist with recruitment and employment.
• Strengthen your cultural capability – Stereotypes and unconscious bias can be barriers to employment. SBS has a range of training to help your organisation strengthen its cultural capability and help create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
• Ensure your board is diverse – The Diversity on Boards Toolkit (PDF, 997.4KB) , while aimed at Queensland Government agencies, includes tips that any organisation, club or group can use to increase culturally diverse participation and representation on boards or committees.
• Make sure your anti-racism messaging is effective – Use this guide by the Australian Human Rights Commission to ensure your anti-racism communications and messaging hits the mark.
• Assess your workplace’s cultural diversity – Use the Diversity Council of Australia’s Counting Culture guide to help map the cultural diversity of your workforce and assess how well your organisation supports the markets, customers, and clients it wants to serve.
• Tools and resources for culturally responsive services – This comprehensive suite of tools and resources includes checklists, information and guidance on how to design, deliver and evaluate services that are culturally responsive.
• Effective engagement – Engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse communities is central to designing services that are culturally responsive. Check out these guides for tips on how to effectively engage:
  • A Guide to effectively engaging with CALD communities: Based on lessons learnt during COVID-19 – Centacare Far North Queensland.
  • Supporting and learning from CALD community-level engagement: The importance of boundary spanning roles – Dr Paul Schmidt.
• Use interpreters – To overcome language barriers between staff and clients, use interpreters for better service delivery outcomes for people with limited or no English proficiency. Here are some tips on how to work with an interpreter.
• Display the National Interpreter Symbol – This national public information symbol provides a simple way of indicating where people with limited or no English proficiency can ask for an interpreter when using government and other services.