Managing risk
COVID-19 vaccination info in languages other than English
Helping businesses and migrant workers access information on COVID-19 vaccination in languages other than English is essential. Learn more here.
Migrants are invaluable to the business community in Australia. Not only do reports show they own about a third of small businesses, but migrant workers contribute significantly to the workforce, including supporting important niches in various sectors of the economy. With many businesses suffering greatly due to lockdowns, increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates among migrant communities is essential.
The current outbreak of COVID-19, which has been most severe in south-west Sydney, has highlighted the need for public health communications around the virus and the vaccination in languages other than English. According to the South Western Sydney Local Health District, nearly half of the population of the area was born overseas, and about 10% report not being able to speak English well or at all.
A report from the New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS) says that effectively communicating with those with lower English language literacy is an important way to address confusion and misconceptions about approved COVID-19 vaccines.
For migrant-owned businesses, or those employing migrant workers, we’ve put together a list of resources in languages other than English in order to help them access information on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility and availability.
In language Factsheets: covid-19 vaccinations
Key sources of information in a range of languages
The federal government has COVID-19 vaccination information available in more than 63 languages here. There is also information available in other languages on the individual vaccines approved for use in Australia – Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
The government’s eligibility checker for the COVID-19 vaccine is also available in a number of languages.
Some states have their own translated information: Victoria is available here, NSW here, Queensland here, Northern Territory here, and Western Australia here.
Or, try downloading the Migration Council of Australia’s MyAus COVID-19 app, which has information in 29 languages.
Meanwhile, SBS also has information in other languages available on its website. In addition, SBS is providing live translations of daily NSW COVID-19 press conferences in Arabic, Assyrian, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. Stream those live translations via their various Facebook pages, the links for which are here.
Building trust
For some, it’s also about overcoming trust issues with the official information that’s provided. That’s why it might also be worth looking up your local migrant community groups, many of which are trying to help educate and dispel some of the myths around COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as hold vaccination clinics.
Western Sydney Health has a number of videos on its YouTube channel from members of various communities including Pacific Islanders and Sikhs. The Lebanese Muslim Association has been holding live streams about COVID-19 vaccinations on its Facebook page and the Arab Council of Australia has held webinars in Arabic via its Facebook page as well.
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