#1829_WSLHD_Multicultural Health Plan_2B_WEB

Snapshot of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in WSLHD

Refugee communities Between 2010 and 2020 11,864 refugee and

WSLHD is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse regions in NSW. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census:

humanitarian entrants settled in WSLHD. Most of refugees came from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sri Lanka and small numbers from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar. The ethnicity and language include Hazara (Afghan), Dari (Afghan), Syrian including Arabic speakers and Yazidis speaking Kurmanji, Iraqi including Chaldean (Arabic speaking), Iranian, Tamil, Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian, Tajik and Pashtun (Afghan). The majority (approximately 85%) of refugees who settled in WSLHD in the last 10 years had poor or no English proficiency. 4 Refugees also came from other countries including Pakistan, China, Egypt, Bhutan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Nepal and Tibet. Asylum seekers WSLHD has also a large population of asylum seekers which was estimated to be around 23,000. 5 Depending on their visa, asylum seekers may have limited access to Medicare, work permits and income support. Main asylum seeking groups are Arabic speakers from Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Darfur (Sudan), Lebanon; Dari, Hazaraghi, Pashtu, Persian speakers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran; Tamil from Sri Lanka; and Mandarin speakers from China 6 , and since 2022 Ukrainian arrivals.

54.3% of residents spoke a language other than English at home

49.9% of residents were born in a non-English speaking country

Top twenty languages other than English spoken at home were: Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tagalog/Filipino, Korean, Tamil, Urdu, Nepali, Gujarati, Telugu, Persian, Turkish, Bengali, Spanish, Vietnamese, Malayalam, Dari, Hazaraghi, and Sinhalese. 1 Top twenty non-English speaking countries of birth in WSLHD were: India, China, Philippines, Korea, Nepal, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Fiji, Afghanistan, Iran, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq, Indonesia, Egypt and Italy. 2 Other significant CALD populations in WSLHD are communities from Pacific Islands and Africa including Samoan, Tongan and Sudanese and South Sudanese communities. Proficiency in English varied among migrant and refugee populations. Communities with the largest number of people who identified as speaking English not well or not at all were Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Korean, Turki sh, Punjabi, Persian, Tamil, Vietnamese, Hindi, Hazaraghi, Dari, Urdu and Gujarati speaking. 3

1 ABS TableBuilder, 2016 and 2021 Census, ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (https://www.abs.gov.au/), Epidemiology and Health Analytics, WSLHD. 2 ABS TableBuilder, 2016 and 2021 Census, ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (https://www.abs.gov.au/), Epidemiology and Health Analytics, WSLHD. 3 2021 Census, WSLHD speaks English not well or not at all by Language, Epidemiology and Health Analytics, WSLHDNovember 2022 4 Humanitarian Settlement ProgramDate of Arrival between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2020, Settlement Database, Australian Government Department of Social Services 5 Refugee Council of Australia (estimates developed based on Bridging Visa and Permanent Protection Visa holders) 6 Draft NSWRefugee Health Plan 2020-25, MoH

8

WSLHD Multicultural Health Plan 2022-2025