Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) February 2020 – June 2024

The ILC project is being delivered in Brisbane, Logan, Toowoomba and Cairns

These cities have significant humanitarian arrivals and are well-established settlement areas. In each of these locations, there are Multicultural Engagement workers (MEWs) who deliver culturally appropriate activities to individuals and their families to increase their:

Understanding of disability and the rights of persons with disability in the Australian context
Expectations for what a good life might look like
Awareness of mainstream and specialist disability services and how to access these services
Capacity to exercise choice and control when engaging with services, including the NDIS
Confidence to exercise their rights and voice their concerns.

Most participants were born overseas in more than twenty-five different countries. Almost seventy per cent of participants have arrived in Australia on a humanitarian visa, and a quarter of participants have arrived in Australia in the past five years.

Participants speak more than twenty-five languages besides English, with Swahili, Vietnamese, Arabic and Kurdish-Kurmanji being the most commonly spoken languages. The majority of participants require an interpreter.

Effective partnerships have been established by the Multicultural Engagement Workers (MEWs) with key stakeholders in their regions including Refugee Health, settlement agencies, QPASTT, schools, community connectors, disability service providers and the Access and Referral Teams.

Our MEW has been the best worker that has ever helped our family. I am sad that she can't keep working with us.

The support I got from Amparo has positively changed my life. I am very happy and proud of who I am now. I can access the community with much more confidence... I have also been able to feel motivated to get back to work, at least for a few hours.

Amparo is so much helpful. They are committed to assisting people in need, even in complex situations. They should keep assisting for follow-up. I am so thankful for the support our family has got, and I appreciate that Amparo accepts to be contacted again for support when we need it.

I am very thankful for Amparo's work in assisting people from the CALD background with disability. I wish Amparo could have more capacity to assist more people in need.

Thank you so much for your help. I now have people to help me – take me to the shops and the doctor. Made my life better.