Multicultural Queensland Month - Everyone has a story

Everyone has a story

Multicultural Queensland Month (MQM) is an annual event in August. It’s a statewide initiative that celebrates the vibrant diversity of Queensland. This year’s MQM theme “One Queensland, many stories”, invites all Queenslanders to reflect on and celebrate the stories that connect us – stories of migration, culture, resilience, community, and belonging.

The Queensland Ombudsman is honoured to have staff who represent a diverse range of cultures. Self-reported diversity in the Office includes 4% Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, 6% people with a disability, 9% people born outside of Australia, and 9% people from non-English speaking backgrounds. Many staff who were born in Australia also have parents or grandparents who immigrated to Australia and continue to honour family cultural traditions.

One of our Principal Inspection Officer’s father and grandfather came from Scotland. Her father, who came to Australia as a Ten Pound Pom in 1972, continued to delight in a weekend Scottish fry-up for breakfast.

“This typically includes black pudding (a type of blood sausage), potato cakes and square sausage (if available at the local Sid's Pies), tomatoes, ‘shrooms, eggs (all the good traditional fry-up stuff),” she said.

One of our Intake Officer’s shared her family story about the impossible decision to move to Australia to escape the 2011 civil war in Syria after already fleeing from Baghdad after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Here in Australia, her dad spent years trying to get his qualifications recognised and her Mum struggled with the language barrier and the isolation of being far from her family.

“When I ask how they’ve made sense of all they’ve lost, they often repeat a saying: "لو بياخذوا بلادك ما بياخذوا ولادك " – Even if they take your homeland, they cannot take your children,” she said.

“To them, this means that culture doesn’t disappear when you’re forced to leave a place. It can live on in your children, in the way you speak, the food you cook, the values you pass on, and the things you choose to share with others. You might sacrifice one thing, but in doing so, you protect something far more valuable.”

She also asked her Mum and Dad what they hope people reflect on during Multicultural Queensland Month. They replied with 3 reflections:

“Keep cultural conversations alive. Ask people what their names mean, what dishes they grew up eating, and what traditions they carry. These meanings carry history, identity, and intention, and they deserve to be heard and understood.

“Don’t disconnect from the struggles of others, stand with people whose cultures are being erased, including in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo.

“And to anyone who feels like they’ve been buried by displacement or loss, remember that being buried isn’t always the end. Sometimes, it means you’re a seed. Holding on to your culture in quiet, everyday ways can be how something strong and lasting grows again.”

A multicultural society is a diverse community where people from different cultures coexist within one society. By taking the time to listen to each other’s stories and understand different cultures, we can all coexist in a more positive world. 

Striving for equitable service

At the time of the 2021 Census, more than 1 in 5 Queenslanders were born overseas, and more than 1 in 10 Queenslanders spoke a language other than English at home. Consequently, it is important that we continuously improve our services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) individuals and communities.

Last financial year, the Office had 109 complainants report speaking a language other than English at home. The top languages were Chinese 35%, Koren 13% and Spanish 11%. The remaining 59% was made up of 16 different languages including Torres Strait Creole, Urdu and Amharic. However, these 109 complaints make up less than 1% of the complaints to the Office.

We try to make the process of communicating with us as easy as possible. You can call us for advice about your complaint, use an interpreter or appropriate service to talk with us, write your complaint in your own language, and ask someone else to contact us for you. There is more information how to contact us using accessibility services on our website.

Our website also provides information and resources to help people making a complaint. These include videos (including Auslan), text-to-speech, reading and translation support and our online complaint form can also assist to identify the right agency to send a complaint to.

When you call us about a complaint that is outside of what we can look at, we will provide contact details for the agency that can help. If a complainant needs additional support the complaint is directly referred to the agency (with the complainant’s consent).

One of our Intake Team Officers, recalled his satisfaction in helping a CALD individual through the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS).

“There was an issue at their daughter's school, and as English was their second language, they were worried about language barriers, and unsure how to progress their concerns,” he said.

“I was able to provide clear advice about how to progress their complaints through the school’s complaints system. The complainant indicated they had a friend who could help them write the complaint. I also encouraged the complainant to return to this Office if they were unhappy following the school’s assessment of their complaint.

“It felt good to be able to help a vulnerable complainant who appeared to be genuinely stuck at the start of the call and left the call with a clear direction on the complaint pathway.”

We encourage everyone this Multicultural Queensland Month to share your own stories with people around you and celebrate the stories that connect us.

We also encourage the CALD community to use the available support resources to help make a complaint. Your complaints can help improve the quality of decision-making and administrative practice in government agencies.