Accessible Government Services for All Annual Report
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Overview
The new reporting framework
A new performance management framework for the Access and Equity Strategy has recently been introduced to streamline the principles to be addressed and the performance indicators to be reported against. Feedback about the new framework with its four key principles of responsiveness, communication, accountability and leadership, has been overwhelmingly positive. The majority of agencies consulted found the new framework easier to understand and to report against.
The Accessible Government Services for All: 2006 Annual Report received contributions from 101 government departments and agencies compared to 97 for the 2005 Access and Equity Annual Report.2 Agencies detailed a range of responses to challenges identified in the 2005 report:
- accurately identifying, and communicating to, diverse client groups
- obtaining sound evidence-based understanding of the impacts of some policies
- ensuring adequate communication with communities by responding appropriately to the need for tailored information in a range of different languages
- ensuring third party delivery of government services is provided with a full understanding of community needs
- maintaining adequate data collections and managing the implications of new technology in meeting community needs.
In addition, agencies have also addressed issues raised through community feedback, as follows.
Community feedback
This report includes community feedback as an essential element to help government agencies be aware of community perceptions and barriers to service delivery, and to encourage agencies to change their procedures where warranted. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) consulted with a range of community representatives and organisations to gather feedback on the accessibility of government services in 2005-06, including the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) and the department's community liaison officers network, which reaches about 6500 community groups and individuals around Australia.
FECCA conducted a consultation on government service delivery via a questionnaire and through discussions with its stakeholders. It identified a number of barriers for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly for those without functional English language skills, older people, newly arrived migrants and humanitarian entrants, people with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people from new and emerging communities, and people with complex needs. Others who may need help in gaining access to services include women, Indigenous Australians, people with disabilities and those living in rural and remote locations.
A number of specific issues were identified through community feedback, including:
- the need for health care providers to be more aware that humanitarian entrants will often present with a range of complex and inter-related physical and mental health issues arising from a history of poor accommodation, malnourishment and even torture
- the poor English language skills of some refugees which may inhibit their ability to understand and accept medical treatments for things such as infectious and parasitic diseases
- the double disadvantage experienced by people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with a disability in being unable to access appropriate services
- the specific disadvantages experienced by women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with a disability who may, for cultural reasons, sometimes be marginalised by their own communities
- cultural factors that may inhibit the take-up by women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds of public health services such as breast cancer screening and pap smear testing
- particular issues confronting women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities who are the victims of domestic violence who may be isolated by language and cultural barriers and find accessing culturally appropriate legal and refuge services difficult
- the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate aged care services to Australia's ageing post-war migrant population, which is particularly challenging in regional and rural areas of Australia. Community feedback made it clear that gaining the confidence of refugee and migrant populations involves demonstrating that the health and aged care system respects client health care needs, belief systems and patterns of health services utilisation.
Consultations with a variety of stakeholders combined with community feedback indicated that, while access to government services had improved for people from culturally diverse backgrounds in recent years, tangible outcomes were still not being achieved for many people and challenges for agencies remain. It is evident from community feedback that there is a disparity between agencies' own views of their performance in relation to diversity, and the difficulties that many new arrivals and others actually experience in using government services. Agencies and community representatives are working together to bridge that gap.
Agency responses
In the last year, many agencies examined emerging challenges affecting particular population groups in Australia and some have responded with strategies that have been developed in consultation with the communities in need. For instance, many agencies have translated basic documents and web pages into a range of languages and some have made their websites more accessible for people with disabilities. A number of agencies demonstrated a willingness to understand the needs, circumstances and cultural characteristics of their clients and to tailor their programmes and services accordingly.
Government organisations used a variety of innovative and effective methods to inform all Australians about the services they provide. Service delivery agencies provided various accessible accountability mechanisms to their clients. As well as providing opportunities for feedback by telephone, email, fax and letter, some agencies also engage in regular community consultations, demonstrating a commitment to understanding the concerns and issues of clients, and so creating opportunities for constructive community input to agency policy making procedures.
Increasingly, agencies are aware of the need to work together to address the needs of clients who may experience multiple barriers to participation in Australian society. Some client groups face barriers such as low levels of English language skills, difficulty in finding employment or pursuing educational opportunities, poor physical and mental health and distrust of government services.
In the coming year, DIAC will work with departments and agencies to improve access to government service delivery, to enable more Australians to participate fully in society.
2 The departmental and agency names used in the Accessible Government Services for All: 2006 Annual Report reflect the administrative arrangements in place as at 30 January 2007.