The Department of Human Services (DHS) has recognised the valuable work of its Multicultural Service Officers who have chalked up three decades of helping migrants and refugees establish their lives in Australia.
General Manager at DHS, Hank Jongen said that last year alone, the Department’s Multicultural Service Officers helped more than 185,000 people and delivered more than 1,200 information sessions to newly arrived refugees.
“Many officers come from a migrant or refugee background themselves,” Mr Jongen said.
“They have been the key to helping multicultural Australians understand and adapt as the Department transitions to digital services.”
He said that when the program began in 1989 there were only a few specialist staff working mainly in Sydney and Melbourne.
“The Department now has a national network of 70 Multicultural Service Officers working around Australia, including in regional areas like Armidale in NSW and the Gippsland region of Victoria,” Mr Jongen said.
“The program is one of the many successes of the Department’s Multicultural Servicing Strategy.”
He said there was now a new strategy which outlined the Department’s priorities for the next three years. It would ensure services met the needs of multicultural clients now and into the future.
“It also acknowledges the diversity of people who access Government services and support. More than one in five, or 22 per cent of Australians, say they come from a culturally and linguistically diverse background,” Mr Jongen said.
He said that reflecting the community it served, 25 per cent of Department of Human Services staff also came from multicultural backgrounds, representing 145 countries and speaking more than 36 different languages.
