Multicultural organisations across New South Wales have welcomed the streamlined delivery of rapid antigen tests (RATs) to vulnerable culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
A new partnership between the state government and Ethnic Communities Councils of NSW is seeing free RATs delivered to people of migrant and refugee backgrounds.
The Hunter, Illawarra and Wagga Wagga are among the first locations involved in the rollout.
Belinda Crain, chief executive of the Multicultural Council of Wagga Wagga, said they had started handing out tests to people in need.
She said many of her clients had previously struggled to access RATs.
"There are a lot of different apps and there are a lot of different websites saying we've got them available," Mr Crain said.
"But if you don't read English and don't know how to navigate the interview then you're at a disadvantage because you don't know how to access."
Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra chief executive Chris Lacey said they were "delighted" to have received about 500 rapid antigen kits.
"We've been talking to the government of NSW for a couple of weeks about the importance of supporting local multicultural associations, who are largely volunteer-based," she said.
Direct delivery
Siham Bibou is a Yazidi woman and a refugee from Iraq who now lives in Wagga Wagga and has received her free RATs.
She said it was convenient to go directly to the local multicultural council, as she is familiar with the people there.
"I feel like I have a family here.
"We don't know all the rules here in Australia but when we come to them and ask, they explained it."
Education still needed
Geraldine Duncan is a general practitioner who has worked in Wagga Wagga for 40 years and in refugee health for 20 years.
She said the free RATs would help when it came to acquisition, but ensuring they were correctly used was another issue.
"It would be good to somehow work out how we can make sure members of the community understand how to use the tests," Dr Duncan said.
Dr Duncan said easy-to-understand guides should also be rolled out.
"As to when it is appropriate to use them and how frequently you use them," she said.
"Not everybody can read English so they might need to be in other languages.
"But also very pictorial because not everybody from those communities, particularly some of the older members of the communities, they've never had any education and they're illiterate in their own language as well as English."
