Australia
Allimant, Annabelle, and Beata Ostapiej-Piatkowski, ‘Supporting Women from CALD Backgrounds Who are Victim/Survivors of Sexual Violence: Challenges and Opportunities for Practitioners’ (Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Wrap No 9, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2011).
This review of the literature is primarily aimed at support workers who work with people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Importantly the review notes that service providers should be aware that: ‘In relation to written information, it is recommended that services are mindful that: literacy levels of many women from CALD backgrounds are limited in both English and their own language’ (p12).
“For literacy and numeracy, proficiency scores have been grouped into six skill levels with Below Level 1 being the lowest level and Level 5 the highest……
Around 3.7% (620,000) of Australians aged 15 to 74 years had literacy skills at Below Level 1, a further 10% (1.7 million) at Level 1, 30% (5.0 million) at Level 2, 38% (6.3 million) at Level 3, 14% (2.4 million) at Level 4, and 1.2% (200,000) at Level 5.”
In the ABS article titled “Young women lag behind young men on numeracy skills, but perform well on literacy” released 9/10/2013 referring to the data collected in this survey ABS Director Myles Burleigh observed: “The higher the level, the better your skills, so Level 2 represents higher skill levels than Level 1, and so on. Level 3 or above for literacy and numeracy represents relatively advanced skills.”
Dimopoulos, Maria, ‘Implementing Legal Empowerment Strategies to Prevent Domestic Violence in New and Emerging Communities’ (Issues Paper 20, Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse, 2010).
This comprehensive literature review examines CALD communities in Australia and occurrences of Domestic and Family Violence within CALD communities. The paper emphasises the lack of fluency and literacy in English as barriers to accessing justice for recent migrants and notes limited awareness of family and domestic violence laws. The researcher also identifies lack of literacy, including in the immigrant’s mother tongue (p6); and notes that where there are low levels of literacy, translation of written legal information is not enough (p7). The author also notes that oral traditions in some communities may guide how communication takes place (p7).
Eady, Michelle, Anthony Herrington, and Caroline Jones, ‘Literacy Practitioners’ Perspectives on Adult Learning Needs and Technology Approaches in Indigenous Communities’ (2010) 50 (2) Australian Journal of Adult Learning 260-286.
Current reports of literacy rates in Australia indicate an ongoing gap in literacy skills between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults, at a time when the literacy demands of work and life are increasing. There are many perspectives on what are the literacy needs of Indigenous adults, from the perspectives of community members themselves to the relatively under researched perspective of literacy practitioners. This paper provides the insights, experiences and recommendations from adult literacy practitioners who work with adult Indigenous learners in communities across Australia.
The results of recent rounds of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) point out the continuing over-representation of Indigenous 15 year olds among Australian 15 year olds with the lowest literacy levels. The PISA data also point to the importance of taking into account socioeconomic status and home location in understanding educational attainment among young Indigenous adults in Australia. As noted by Masters (2007) in his analysis of the 2006 PISA results, “approximately 40 per cent of Indigenous students, 26 per cent of students living in remote parts of Australia and 23 per cent of students from the lowest socioeconomic quartile are considered by the OECD to be ‘at risk’.”
The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults in Australia, in educational attainment and in literacy, is lived out within contexts that lack appropriate employment and training opportunities for many Indigenous people.
New migrants and refugees may experience language and literacy barriers and may be unable to access information in the manner and form they need to feel informed and confident to seek help or legal redress for domestic and family violence. Also, research demonstrates that English literacy levels among adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly lower than those for other Australians. People with a low level of education, poor literacy in their first language, or cognitive disability may also experience these barriers. A victim in these circumstances may delay taking any action and may, over time, become more vulnerable to further violence.
Service providers face a range of challenges in ensuring that clients with poor literacy and language skills are, and feel, properly supported in their engagement with police and court processes, and in securing their housing, financial and other needs. Some of these challenges may include:
•
Accessing and engaging interpreters who are trained in the client’s particular language or dialect, independent of the parties involved, gender appropriate, and sensitive to the complex issues related to domestic and family abuse
•
Translating legal and specialised terms into a language where those terms have no equivalent usage
•
Providing critical information in oral, visual and pictorial formats where the client’s literacy is not sufficient to comprehend a written translation
•
Cautioning against the use of the client’s children, friends or partners as interpreters
•
Ensuring the client’s confidentiality and privacy
•
Offering interpreting and translation services that are affordable and able to deliver on time according to court schedules
•
Providing additional resources to assist clients with practicalities requiring literacy and language skills, for example understanding and completing court and government agency forms, directives and orders.
New migrants and refugees may experience language and literacy barriers and may be unable to access information in the manner and form they need to feel informed and confident to seek help or legal redress for domestic and family violence. Also, research demonstrates that English literacy levels among adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly lower than those for other Australians. People with a low level of education, poor literacy in their first language, or cognitive disability may also experience these barriers. A victim in these circumstances may delay taking any action and may, over time, become more vulnerable to further violence.
Service providers face a range of challenges in ensuring that clients with poor literacy and language skills are, and feel, properly supported in their engagement with police and court processes, and in securing their housing, financial and other needs. Some of these challenges may include:
•
Accessing and engaging interpreters who are trained in the client’s particular language or dialect, independent of the parties involved, gender appropriate, and sensitive to the complex issues related to domestic and family abuse
•
Translating legal and specialised terms into a language where those terms have no equivalent usage
•
Providing critical information in oral, visual and pictorial formats where the client’s literacy is not sufficient to comprehend a written translation
•
Cautioning against the use of the client’s children, friends or partners as interpreters
•
Ensuring the client’s confidentiality and privacy
•
Offering interpreting and translation services that are affordable and able to deliver on time according to court schedules
•
Providing additional resources to assist clients with practicalities requiring literacy and language skills, for example understanding and completing court and government agency forms, directives and orders.