Working Group on Multicultural Services (NSW)
10 am–12.00pm, Thursday 26th August 2021 via Zoom
Draft Minutes
Apologies: None received
Confirmation of previous minutes
The previous minutes required the list of apologies – will be confirmed at the next Meeting
Business arising from previous minutes
Update on the Strategic Plan
Oriana reported that the Working Group met and completed a draft for the Group’s discussion
Agenda Items
The WGMS Strategic Plan – Updated Draft 2 – discussion facilitated by Oriana
Oriana presented the Draft and facilitated the ensuing discussion. The ideas expressed by the members of the Group were considered and will be incorporated in the resulting next Draft. The revision of the Strategic Plan will be continued at the next meeting.
Tech Savvy Seniors – Brief Report - Shauna
In the previous financial year (2020-2021) there were 1091 sessions provided to 6082 participants in total (818 sessions in English and 273 CALD sessions delivered respectively to 4260 and 1822 seniors). The above are great results considering the difficulties caused by COVID-19.
The main funding bodies, The Department of Communities and Justice together with Telstra, offered this program again to the public libraries for a further 12 months in 2021-2022. The applications for funding exceeded the amount allocated therefore many of the libraries had to downscale their proposals. Shauna noted an increase in demand for the TSS in English and a slight decrease for the CALD sessions. The CALD TSS schedule is being currently worked out by the Ethnic Communities’ Council of NSW.
It is hoped that this year’s TSS training will be as successful as in the previous years, despite the challenges posed by the current COVID-19 situation in NSW.
There is additional funding for the pilot TSS sessions aimed at the Aboriginal elders.
The Libraries successful in obtaining funding for TSS in 2020-2021 were reminded to respond to the questionnaire sent out by the Department of Communities and Justice regarding the delivery plans.
Bulk Loans – Brief update - Abby
The Collection Services Coordinator enquired if services of Multicultural Bulk Loans could be of help in these uncertain times when due to COVID-19 restrictions in NSW the library services being delivered are varying significantly across councils.
The Libraries which a currently home deliver or offer click and collect were encouraged to contact Abby to discuss any suitable arrangements in the provision of the Multicultural Bulk Loans. The supply of new bulk loans, returns, stocktake of the outstanding loans, can be considered to support any current library operations taking into account working COVID-safe restrictions and limited time spent by the team onsite.
Information Exchange
Oriana drew the Groups attention to the situation in Afghanistan and the ensuing challenge of resettlement of the refugees arriving in the particular LGAs.
Wollongong Library is keen on keeping an eye on the growth of new migrants arriving in their area. A reliable and up-to-date source of information on these trends would be greatly appreciated. Vicky has recently attended a webinar closely related to the above: “5 ways to Enhance Multilingual Government Communications”, delivered by Ethnolink. After the meeting Vicky contacted Costa and Rachel from Ethnolink, who kindly agreed that she shared the links to their webinars with the members of the Group. Please see below:
Using Translation to Connect with CALD Audiences
7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid in Government Translations
Video Strategies for Connecting with Multicultural Communities
5 Multicultural Communications Predictions for 2021
Using Translation to Connect with CALD Audiences (2021)
An insider's guide to engaging with multicultural communities
Inside the minds of Australia's multicultural youth
Best Practice Tips for Multilingual Websites
5 Ways to Enhance Multilingual Government Communications
Newcastle Library is looking for the providers of training similar to TSS in Arabic but aimed at the younger people. The Library is also keen to accept any donations of Arabic material as this community group is strongly growing in the area.
Oriana elaborated on the Group’s strength in providing support with verifying and proofreading translations into various languages.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held via Zoom on 18 November 2021.
The Meeting was closed at 12.10 pm.