Bilingual and bicultural workers represent invaluable resources in addressing the healthcare requirements of Queensland’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Recent research underscores the healthcare disparities experienced by individuals from CALD backgrounds (Queensland Health, 2023), often compounded by underutilisation of healthcare services (Guo et al., 2020; Hamrah et al., 2020). Acknowledging the importance of this demographic, Queensland Health’s HealthQ32 vision has designated CALD communities as priority populations (Queensland Health, 2023), emphasising the pressing need for tailored interventions to meet their healthcare needs. While interpreters fulfil a critical function, bilingual and bicultural health workers offer an additional layer of support by acting as cultural bridges between communities and healthcare services (FECCA, 2017).
This paper has been developed by ECCQ in partnership with True Relationships and Reproductive Health.
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