Episode 52: Creating Belonging and Inclusion in Community

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EP 52: Creating Belonging and Inclusion in Community

 

[00:00:02]  Carers Qld Announcement

Choice and Control is a podcast celebrating meaningful inclusion of people with disability in our communities, brought to you by Carers Queensland, your NDIS local area coordination partner in the community.

Each episode provides a conversation space for people with disability, their families and carers to share their stories, with you. We also hear from members of the wider community, local businesses and community leaders who share information, ideas and possibilities to give you more opportunity and more choice and control in your life.

[00:00:40] Tracy (voiceover)

The theme for Harmony Week this year is Everyone Belongs –   recognising the diversity of Australians and bringing together people from different backgrounds – promoting inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for everyone.

Carers Queensland serves communities made up of a rich tapestry of cultures. We are strongly committed to supporting diversity within our workplace and our communities of people with disability, their families and supports, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

In this episode, we talk to two people with disability from culturally diverse backgrounds as well as the CEO of Multicultural Australia, Christine Castley.

First up we talk to 39-year-old Gladstone local, Krish, who migrated from India to Australia in his late teens.  Krish, who lives with paranoid schizophrenia, is working hard to overcome cultural stigma and wants others from multicultural backgrounds to know help and support is available.

[00:01:43]   Krish

No, I was diagnosed in 2016, that's when I divorced. I was diagnosed in 2016 with Schizophrenia Disorder. I started seeing things, I started hearing things and I've been hospitalized for nine months and before that, I have been in and out, in and out, all the time in a hospital. So since 2016 to 2022, I've been hospitalized several times.

In 2018 I've been hospitalized nine months. So that was a very effective part of my life and that's where become disabled because since then I can't remember things and it's affecting my life and I need support for doing the daily activities like brushing a teeth, having a shower.

[00:03:06] Emily: Shaving.

[00:03:11] Krish:

I can do that, but I get very depressed so I just don't do that. And I stay in the home for long period of time and don't talk to anybody, don't see anybody, I just don't do anything. No eating, stop eating and like that. But since I got NDIS support, they take me out for a walk, coffee. They made me do stuff taking me to the movie. Since childhood I had this memory problem but it get very worse since all the medication, different medication I have started since 2016 to now my memory is very get really badly damaged. And I did psychology test. It's something called a cognitive brain test.  Psychologist. Jimmy Small from Yeppoon, he tested me and he found out that your score is very low. But he going to give me result tomorrow.

And then some of them nurses also came talk to me that this kind of disease don't happen in our culture. How come you end up like this? I said, I don't know what to do. And I was crying every day up there because I had the schizophrenia disorder, but I don't know what is the schizophrenia means. So I was living with it, but I never even speak about it. So when I speak about it, doctor found out that this is schizophrenia, this is mental illness and I wasn't accepting it because I don't know what exactly it is. So it's like if something is broken in your leg, you know that it's hurting, then you know that it's hurting. But this kind of condition, you don't know because you can't see it.

If you grow up in India, a lot of people have this kind of a disability, but people don't care because up there, there's so many people, then they end up on a street and it's so poor. So people just don't know what is exactly this and that's what happened. So if I was in India or in my country, I could have ended up in the street. And nobody knows why it's happening. But I'm so lucky that I came in Australia and I take the meditation regularly and I accepted that this is the disease, it's a mental disease and it's the kind of illness which occurs in the brain and that makes knock you down and I accept that and I taking the regular medication. So one day at a time I remember to do what exactly I had to do and that's all I can do. So that's keep me going and I'm enjoying. Yeah.

[00:10:02] Carers Qld Announcement:

Carers Queensland is growing inclusion, awareness and opportunities for people with disability. And we're better to grow things than a garden. We're working with community gardens to improve accessibility and make sure people of all abilities can get their hands dirty. We're starting conversations about what the community wants and needs and how we can work together to give everyone a place to put down roots and bloom. Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website@carersqld.com au or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636.

[00:10:46] Tracy (voiceover):

After escaping political persecution in Sudan, 50-year-old ophthalmologist Nazim sought asylum in Australia and started a new life in Brisbane after developing optic neuropathy, leaving him blind and unable to practice. Since arriving in Australia, Nazim has established the Dafur community group in Brisbane as a subgroup under the Sudanese Community Association. Nazim also wants to find new ways to reduce the cultural stigma associated with disability.

[00:11:20] Nazim:

And sometimes disability is not an easy thing, but sometimes it's a challenge for you to break through. Like it's just like a trigger. You have to break through or you won't be so templating. For me, being able, living life without social anxiety. I mean, still social anxiety, but it was terrible that was. Now I can't enjoy life. You can imagine person who with social anxiety, if you are walking, you are always worried you want to go home, you can't enjoy the river, the music, just you want to isolate yourself. Now I'm able to go outside, meeting people and whatever. So it changed my life. It changed my life. Absolutely. And no meaning now of money, status, being a medical doctor, I'm happy now I'm working. Nobody knows even I have BHCD and whatever, but I'm happy just talking to people inspired them. Like where I. I was in a very dark place, by the way, two years in Australia without work, that's hell of money. And thank God I had money to pay for my rent, for everything and to send my family. And also I said thank God because I had very good job to save money. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't be able to go through these two years and supporting my family living it was not I live for three years supporting myself, supporting my family. That's hell of money. But that God blessed me with that. Good. Although some of my money was put on hold, now I can't access my money.

But actually these two years was very dark. I couldn't receive my Centrelink because I was not on permanent residence. Nobody could take this risk of coming here and he knows that or she knows that. Not being granted a visa because you are not visiting anything. I had to stay for three years or four years. No three years without being permanent resident. But I had to stay another one year, like three years and a half. Then I started my NDIS. They chose me.

I'm the president of Dafur Community Association and I'm also the president of something called Crisis Management Committee of Sudanese War. And this was established in April, last April to deal with the war and its consequences in Sudan, the repercussions and to help people from Sudan who are now displayed and refugees. And we work with the migration here in Australia and we managed to change to make the rules flexible and now people could apply for immigration easier. And now Sudan is one of the priorities of…

[00:15:52] Emily:

That's an amazing achievement. You must be very proud.

[00:15:56] Nazim:

Yeah, really. I'm working with Amparo organization now. I'm on the management committee with Amparo. I have a meeting now at six to working with people from culturally diverse background. Yes. Advocating and educating people and to tackle the issue of stigma in these communities, finding creative way to talk about the stigma.

[00:16:34] Emily:

So there is a stigma of disability? In the Sudanese community, most African communities, or more so in the Sudanese community?

[00:16:45] Nazim:

Yeah, in the Sudanese community there is stigma. And in African communities also, there is a stigma, particularly testing disabilities like mental disabilities and not just mental.

Most disabilities. Because people think that like mental disabilities, it is not said explicitly, but they think that this is like possession.

[00:17:22] Emily:

Yes.

[00:17:23] Nazim:

And you allowed the devil to do that. That means you did a sin or something. So you are the culprit, you are not the victim here.

[00:17:35] Emily:  Right.

[00:17:35] Nazim:

That they don't see say it, but this is what they behave accordingly. And also some disabilities like visual impairment. Maybe you have done something. So I'm trying to prove now I'm doing good, even better than before. So that's not a punishment. Having clean water, enjoying the coffee. You know what, now I can enjoy everything.

[00:18:10] Carers Qld Announcement:

Do you have a passion or a talent to share with the world? A small business can be a great way for people with disability to earn income, build your confidence, be more independent and be an active part of your community. Carers Queensland is supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs with the be your own Boss microbusiness project. It's a place to find out what it means to start a business, whether it's a good fit for you, connect with business mentors and learn from existing microbusiness owners and even opportunities to showcase your goods and services in the Be your own boss marketplace. Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website@carersqld.com, au or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636.

[00:19:00] Tracy (voiceover):

And our final interview in this Harmony Week episode is with the CEO of Multicultural Australia, Christine Castley. We started by asking her about some of the unique characteristics of Australia's multicultural communities.

[00:19:15] Christine:

I think it's really helpful to know what some of the data says about Australia's multicultural characteristics, which is that 50% of Australians were born overseas or are children of migrants and about 40% speak a language other than English at home. So a point that I often like to make to people when we talk about multiculturalism in Australia is that we're not speaking of a minority group. In fact, we're speaking about a group that's very much part of the population of Australia. It's who we are as a country. And so Australia is home to people from more than 270 different ethnic groups. If we think about Queensland alone, Queenslanders speak more than 180 languages. So the multilingual dimensions of a significant chunk of the Australian population is one really rich and I think, important part of our multicultural communities and our Australian community.

We're expecting over the coming two years to have 650,000 new migrants come to Australia and then call it home. And certainly at Multicultural Australia, we're very, very lucky in that we get to see firsthand just about every day that that natural vibrancy that people from many different cultures who speak many different languages bring to the Australian community because they bring their cultural, religious celebrations and festivals, they make life so much better because many of those festivals actually are a very real demonstration of how people actually bring joy to their engagement and their interactions with each other. And it's made particularly powerful and poignant, I think, because many of the people, particularly the people we work with, who come from refugee backgrounds, come from a background of trauma and certainly have been displaced, have had to make a new life struggle with many, many challenges, including cultural learning a new culture, learning a new language.

But still, despite all of that, demonstrate this wonderful resilience and this real appreciation for the joy in life, which I think lifts all of us up within the broader community and actually makes things so much better. It lends so much more color to who we are and so much strength to who we are as a country.

It's all of those unique characteristics of our multicultural community, the culture, the language, the food. I know some times people think, say that food is just a very superficial part, but it's a very real, a very connecting part of who we are as a community. When people come around a table to share food, to understand each other's cultural and culinary traditions, it is a really wonderful way to create social connection and social resilience. And I think that's the power of multiculturalism in Australia.

[00:22:13] Tracy:

Christine, we know that in some communities, disability can be misunderstood or hidden away and not talked about. Why is this?

[00:22:22] Christine:

Yeah, so that's a very interesting. I think there are probably a couple of lenses on this. One is, of course, that disability often does carry stigma simply because people see it as a failing and kind of don't fully understand how to deal or respond to those disabilities.

So there's that perspective. And if you come from a country where you don't have the safety nets, the built-in social supports, where it isn't dealt with at a systemic institutional level, then people tend to not have that awareness that there is help that they can access, so they don't ask for it because they don't realize that help is there to be asked for, and that's an education piece we find in the work that we do for people, where we will say, why did you not identify that there was a member of your family who had a particular disability? And the response would be, well, what would be the point? Because what are you going to do about it? It is what it is. And we kind of say, well, it is what it is, but actually, in Australia, there are these groups or these processes or these systems or this funding that can actually assist you to help you make your life a bit better. And that sometimes is a major revelation to people that there is actually a country where a government actually does provide support, where there's a community sector that provides support. So there's that dimension around it. But there's another perspective here where we might describe a disability as being hidden away or not talked about, doesn't always have a negative flavor to it.

Sometimes it has a positive dimension in terms of normalization, where simply it is part and parcel of who the family is with a particular individual who is very able to kind of, they've managed as a family to kind of deal with the particular family member who might have a disability and kind of work through things. So sometimes it just simply comes from a perspective of, well, we never thought of it because that's just our brother, that's just my son, and that's how, or my sister, and that's just how they've always been. So we didn't think to say that there is a unique characteristic and that's kind of lovely in many ways because it's just purely normalized. It is just part and parcel of who we are, rather than a thing to be called out and kind of highlighted at all times. They don't see themselves as a family with a person with a disability. They see themselves as a family that has certainly family members who kind of have certain abilities, but another family member who may not have the same abilities as others. And that's just the way life is. So I think there's something to be learned from that perspective.

We have, in the course of our work, actually heard stories where, say, you would have had a child or a family member who, say, was missing a limb and it was just never mentioned until they arrive in the country. And certainly that has big implications for the housing solution that you would find for the individual and all of those sorts of things, if you do know about it ahead of time. And when we've said to clients, why did you not identify this? They will say, well, that's just how we've always just managed. We've never thought about it as being. Having to identify a special need. So there's an education process about saying, well, actually there's things that we can do as a broader community to help you.

I think the issue about disability not being spoken about, certainly there are certain communities where it is hidden. It is seen as something that does carry stigma in other communities. It's seen as something that's purely just the way life is and therefore not spoken about simply because it's not seen as an unusual or a different thing. It's just simply seen as the way that you would live your life. But overall, all of that is, I think there's always this underlying pace that when people come to Australia, understanding what is available in terms of the help and the support that can be given to that family and how we can actually work to ensure that people are well and truly aware of what can be done, to kind of open up access opportunity for the best possible life for everyone within the family.

[00:26:47] Tracy:

What are some of the important considerations for groups and individuals working with individuals and families, supporting a person with disability?

[00:26:57] Christine:

Well, I think the key thing there is around not assuming that people understand the systems and processes, ways of doing things, which are the ways of doing things that we do in Australia.

And the way you do that is to take time, time to listen, time to get to know people at that very human level, and to share stories, to hear their stories, listen to their stories. And in that sense, that way, you actually then develop an ability to then actually fully understand their needs. We will always talk about the really crucial, critical importance of using an interpreter or a cultural support worker. And certainly the cultural support worker is quite a unique thing in terms of not just being the bridge around language, but also a bridge around cultural kind of norms and understanding and those sorts of things. So there's two dimensions there in terms of translating and interpreting language, but also culture, because culture really shapes the way people view particular things and actually then kind of really flavors how you respond to how you engage with people and how you actually provide support services and wraparound around particular individuals.

But ultimately, I think when you are using an interpreter or a cultural support worker, when you are sitting down and getting to know a person, the really important thing is to make sure that you listen, but that you give time to actually get to know what's happening and give that family time to get to know you and for you to get to know that family things can't be rushed.

And that's a very difficult thing when you have people who are leading very busy lives with higher demand, but just understanding that taking that time will often kind of save a lot of time wasted or a lot of resources wasted further down the track.

It should go without saying, but I think it's really fundamentally important that we think about the important principles of respect and equality and around shared understanding of each other's kind of equal standing in this world. So certainly there is always going to be a power dynamic in terms of who is better positioned compared to the next person.

But if we approach our relationships and our connections and our engagement with people with absolute respect, to actually try to understand what their needs are, to give them self efficacy as well, and choice in terms of what they might want to. While, you know, a person might come at a particular person's circumstances with a view about what is best for them because of what they might know around how things work in Australia, you still need to take time to actually take that person on the journey, but ultimately let them have the choice about what's important for them and certain choices that might make sense if you've kind of grown up, lived your entire life in Australia and have that context, might not make sense to a person who's grown up in a different country and now live in Australia, but have a different perspective and a different context that they put on any kind of situation. Ultimately, there are certain fundamentals that are common to all of us in terms of living a better life. So in terms of accessibility, or in terms of opportunities to go into educational settings, how to kind of live the best possible kind of life, but within the framework of how all of that gets delivered, how that gets done, we actually do still need to think about what is the best solution for that person, within the parameters of what that person wants for themselves.

[00:30:48] Tracy:

Thinking of specific cultural groups, how can the strengths and unique character traits of different cultural groups be helpful in supporting more inclusion for people with disability?

[00:31:00] Christine:

Yeah, a thing that we often like to talk about. So the difference between many African Asian communities, say, compared to more angular communities, is that they will often come from a very collective perspective.

So when I talk about a collective's perspective, it's about family groups, community groups who are very much in each other's lives, very, very connected. You work beyond the immediate nuclear family group. And so what you find is in the context of, if I take volunteering as an example, which is quite different in some of these communities compared to within broader mainstream Australia, where we will often have conversations about the levels of volunteering within multicultural groups. And what I will say is that what I see in terms of volunteering is just like at phenomenal levels because we have community leaders, we have elders within community, people who kind of contribute, they're kind of on 24/7 call to help each other out, whether it's responding to a family who's going through some health crisis or even a domestic or family violence issue or a family breakdown, some other medical related issue.

So they will step in and help each other no matter when and no matter where.

Where a birth happens, for example, the entire community will rally around to kind of provide food and support around that baby. Where in a different perspective, in some communities it's when, say, for example, some Australian families will think the time of birth is a time when you leave the parents alone with their newborn child to kind of just have their experience and not overwhelm them with visits.

There would be a very opposite view about in many of our kind of communities, which come from a much more collective mentality, which kind of says we all wrap around this child and we will all be in contact with this child right from day one. That shapes your perspective when you think about how that then kind of flows on through to a family or an individual who has a disability, where everyone will wrap around to provide that care and kind of get involved in care that's provided by family, by service providers, the local community, the broader community.

And so then that then also, then translates into, I think there's significant potential then for that to then also then translate into advocacy and activism for social justice and equality. What we often find is that what we need to do, where we can add value, is to kind of open up those pathways for that advocacy, for those stories to be told about what is actually needed because the people are there who can tell those stories because they've all engaged. And they won't be simply that individuals are talking about my own disability or my family members disability. They will be talking about the disability of the people within their community.

And so I think there's something to be learnt there in terms of making Australia a better, stronger country, in terms of inclusion, about rights, about kind of everyone wrapping around as a community, taking an interest in ultimately creating that social connection and that resilience.

[00:34:12] Tracy:

Absolutely.  I love that.  How will you be marking Harmony week this year?

[00:34:19] Christine:

Yeah, so Harmony week, I think, is kind of quite a lovely time because it really is where so many in Australia step up and know this is where we are as a multicultural country and how might we celebrate it. So you have things like tastes of harmony. Certainly for us at multicultural Australia, we talk about how we engage in community kind of Harmony Day celebration, Harmony Week celebrations. It's always about the food, which is great because the food is just wonderfully rich and amazing.

But it is also about, and it's very much about celebration, celebrating how as a community in Australia, we have actually done things really well. But the key thing that we are always very conscious about is that there is the 21 March. Harmony Week occurs in March and the 21 March, which is the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination. And on the 21 March we actually make it very clear that the conversation that we are having on that day, the cause we are advocating for, is for the elimination of racial discrimination. So while Australia has done very, very well in terms of successful multiculturalism, we also have to be really open and honest that racism does continue, systemic bias does continue, they continue to be institutional barriers. And we need to reflect on basically how can we engage in conversations that actually tackle these issues, recognize that they're happening and step up either as people who are subject to that racism.

But a really much more important issue for the vast majority of people in Australia is how you behave as a bystander. And not to be a passive bystander, but to be an active bystander who's actually thought about these issues, who acknowledges that these issues do happen here in Australia and will stand up to actually try to do your best to kind of counter racism and discrimination, because that's the only way that we can truly be successful and then celebrate the broader piece of Harmony Week and what that stands for.

[00:36:26] Tracy:

Well, Christine, I know as the CEO of multicultural Australia, you're incredibly busy, so thank you so much for making the time to meet with me today.

[00:36:35] Christine:

Thanks so much for the chat.

[00:36:38] Tracy (voiceover):

And that was Christine Castley. And if you'd like to know more about Harmony Week and get involved in one of our Carers Queensland events, check out our website and follow the links to Harmony Week 2024.

Thanks for joining us at Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland podcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review and share it with your community. For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Carers Queensland, contact us online at www.carersqld.com au or call us on 1300 999636 or head to Facebook and look for Carers Queensland NDIS.