COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on how SA Health is working to promote COVID-19 vaccinations amongst our multicultural communities?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his question. In July last year, I gave an update to this chamber regarding the outreach work that SA Health had embarked on to strengthen relationships with culturally and linguistically diverse leaders and communities in the context of the pandemic. At the time, reports of the concerning outbreak in Victoria had underscored the importance of ensuring that public health advice and infection control messaging was accessible to all people regardless of ethnic background or their language.

On 16 July 2020, the Chief Public Health Officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, hosted a forum, which the Hon. Jing Lee and myself were able to participate in. The forum identified knowledge gaps within the CALD communities, and CALD communities were asked to be messengers to their communities for potentially life-saving public health messaging.

I am pleased to provide an update to the house, that our multicultural leaders have again answered the call to be the key sources of truth in their respective communities as we move into the vaccination phase. Last night, an online forum was held to bring together CALD communities and to discuss the importance of vaccination against COVID-19. Last night's forum was attended by two prominent and respected CALD leaders, His Excellency the Hon Hieu Van Le the Governor of South Australia and the Hon. Jing Lee MLC in her capacity as Minister Assisting the Premier. It was certainly a privilege to have both attend.

Informed by their experiences, the Governor and the Hon. Jing Lee made important contributions to the forum. The CALD vaccination forum was attended by over two dozen participants and was hosted by the Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Emily Kirkpatrick. Participants took full advantage of the opportunity to discuss their concerns and seek answers from the public health team.

The Marshall Liberal government is keen to see as many South Australians vaccinated as possible and the forum gave speakers the opportunity to reiterate the facts that the vaccine is free, it's effective and it's voluntary. It was also very useful for the SA Health team because CALD leaders used the forum to draw attention to issues that are unique to their communities, such as the fact that, in spite of the fact that the vaccine is free for all, there was concern that people's visa status or their Medicare status may get in the way.

SA Health has been doubly reminded of that concern in the community and we will make sure that that is fed into the communications and information provided to CALD communities. In particular, I am advised that the Refugee Health Service and also the commonwealth respiratory clinics are both accessible to people who don't have Medicare entitlements, but certainly my officers and myself will be doing what we can to make sure that access to vaccination is just as free to people from CALD community backgrounds, in spite of their visa or Medicare status, as it is to any other resident of this community.

The ongoing engagement with CALD communities has been a partnership, not only with the leaders of those communities and the communities but also with other departments, such as the Department of Human Services, Multicultural Affairs SA and a range of non-government organisations. The opportunity to engage in a process and framework that's been developed by Multicultural Affairs has certainly helped other parts of government to engage effectively.

In-person sessions with peak bodies will commence this week following productive discussions with the Australian Refugee Association, the Australian Migrant Resource Centre and SA Health. Accurate and culturally appropriate health information is just as important during the vaccination phase as it has been through the first year of the pandemic. The same leadership that kept South Australians safe during the Thebarton and Parafield clusters will be vital as we embark on the complex vaccination task.

I thank the many CALD leaders who were involved and made valuable contributions. The work now begins to take information back to their communities and I have no doubt that the health and wellbeing of all South Australians will be more secure thanks to the collaboration with our multicultural leaders and community members.