Our services
Nepean Blue Mountains LHD is home to 49,302 people who speak a language other than English. Approximately 22% of the population is born overseas and 135 languages are spoken across the LHD from 165 different countries.
The role of the Multicultural Health Service is to improve access and quality of care for people of CALD backgrounds in our community.
The service provides strategic direction, consultancy, workforce development, project development and liaison on health care in partnership with other government and non-government agencies.
Key policies and programs that guide our work include:
What we do
We advocate for better health outcomes and access to services for CALD communities, by helping to build public health policy, create supportive environments and strengthen community action.
Our LHD is home to a significant refugee and asylum seeker population who have fled a life of war, violence, persecution and abuse of human rights. As a result, these new and emerging communities from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, Syria, Tibet and Ukraine have complex health, social and medical needs. It is our responsibility to ensure that they receive safe, high-quality health services.
We also provide:
- health promotion and education sessions to CALD consumers and carers on important health issues and access to services
- training for health care workers in how to provide culturally appropriate care, become culturally responsive and how and when to use interpreters
- strategies and resources for services to facilitate effective communication with CALD clients
- models of good practice in the care of CALD communities
- input into the development and revision of policies across the LHD
- improvements to data collection and reporting to better understand and meet the needs of CALD communities
We also work with key agencies in the region including the Nepean Migrant Access Inc, Sydwest, Nepean Blue Mountains PHN, Councils and other NGOs.
For further information contact the Multicultural Health Services team on (02) 4734 1600 or NBMLHD-MulticulturalHealth@health.nsw.gov.au.