Feedback and complaints are crucial for service providers to enhance the quality of their services. People from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds can often face barriers when using feedback and complaint systems. Language may be a barrier for some people, but a lack of trust and fear of negative repercussions are also factors. Following consultation with providers, we have developed resources to address these barriers and to empower people from CALD backgrounds. 

For service providers working with CALD communities, cultural competence is essential. It involves acknowledging one's own cultural assumptions, values and beliefs while understanding that culture shapes people’s worldviews. Cultural competence requires developing systems, policies and processes that consider cultural diversity and differences in all aspects of the organisation. 

To help providers who support CALD communities, we have subtitled a selection of our suite of complaints and feedback resources into most of the major languages. They make it easier for providers to:   

• embrace diversity and demonstrate a willingness to learn about the experiences and traditions of individuals whose backgrounds are different from their own 
• provide complaints training resources to staff in their first language 
• implement different ways to gain feedback from CALD individuals and families 
• support and guide CALD Australians on their rights for feedback and complaints. 

There are four CALD resources in the NDS Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management (RICM) set, including an animation that explains the features of effective complaints management.  

The resources are: 

• Complaints Tips – an infographic for staff training 
• It is OK to Complain – an infographic for participants 
• How We Deliver Safe Services – an infographic for participants 
• The Four A's of Complaints – an animation.  

Each of these has been translated into seventeen different languages, including Assyrian, Turkish, Spanish, Dari, Khmer, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, French, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Macedonian, Samoan and Vietnamese. 

NDS also offers Person-Centred Practice Across Cultures,  a series of resources on the crucial importance of cultural sensitivity in disability support and service delivery. Providers may also find The Way We Use Language, which is part of the Positive Cultures series of the Zero Tolerance resources helpful for staff training. It looks at the way we use language in disability services and the effect of words on the people we are supporting. 

Finally, the Disability Royal Commission recently produced a report that found a lack of integration between various CALD initiatives complicates access. The report identifies good practice for social inclusion for people with disability from CALD communities. 

All of these resources are designed to be engaging and easy to understand. They can be a valuable tool to help disability support workers develop the skills and knowledge necessary to give quality care and support to clients from diverse backgrounds. 

You will find the CALD material as part of our Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management resources on the NDS website.