Here to help: Translators at Shepparton's vaccination hub. (Back row) Yvette Siriyamungu, Alkeer Yel, Seiuli Emmanuel Vagana, (front row) Jafar Naseri, Latifa Haidary and Ethnic Council COVID-19 consortium co-ordinator Susan Johnston were on hand during COVID but have been pushed to their limit during the flooding situation.
Photo by
Rodney Braithwaite
Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District head Chris Hazelmann says the messaging about flood information in Greater Shepparton for multicultural communities has been unclear due to the lack of translation.
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“It has been a challenging time for everyone in the multicultural communities because lack of translation for messages has made it difficult for those whose first language is not English," he said.
Mr Hazelmann said his volunteers had been in overdrive since Thursday to provide messages to the multicultural communities, including evacuation messages.
"Our volunteers circulated emails to 1000 people from all different backgrounds to tell them of the situation, and our volunteers were working 24/7 to keep them updated," he said.
Mr Hazelmann said he would like more help for those communities in messaging, especially regarding the activation of Australian Defence Force support.
"During COVID, we had messaging to circulate through the community about how to remain safe and vaccinate. Due to the rapid changes, it was difficult to explain the situation, regarding flooding," he said.
"We don't have the troops on the ground to give more updates as volunteers work round the clock.
"We had people call up regarding the ADF deployment, and those people are confused and scared. People come from different backgrounds where they view the military as violent, so there needed to be better messaging around that.“
Communication: Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District head Chris Hazelmann says there needs to be more consideration for multicultural groups when VicEmergency warnings are announced.
Mr Hazelmann said the Ethnic Council had been doing more informal volunteer work during the flood crisis to help those from multicultural communities.
It has already set up a stall at the Showgrounds relief centre for the multicultural communities to access assistance regarding food and medical services.
"We have set up a stall at the Showgrounds relief centre so people can get help from us so people can get information in their language because we know the recovery for those who do not speak English will be tough all around," he said.
Mr Hazelmann said there must be a better process for future emergency events for getting messages across, especially for Shepparton’s multicultural community.
"We need better planning, and we should have a seat at the table to help more in a formal volunteer process," he said.
