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The national peak body representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds has criticised the health inequities faced by people of non-European backgrounds, highlighted in a new report.
A new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) provides a comprehensive picture of the chronic health conditions being faced by culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians.
The health inequities in the report, titled Chronic health conditions among culturally and linguistically diverse Australians, 2021, have been criticised by the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA), the national peak body representing CALD Australians.
The report found Australians born in some overseas countries had a higher prevalence of dementia, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease than the Australian-born population, particularly for people born in regions such as Polynesia, South Asia and the Middle East.
“Bangladesh-born Australians had the highest prevalence of both diabetes and heart disease – 12% and 4.6% respectively,” AIHW spokesperson Claire Sparke said.
“Kidney disease was highest in people born in Polynesian countries such as Tonga (1.9%) and Samoa (1.5%).”
The report also presented possible links between a migrant’s time in Australia, proficiency in spoken English and long term health conditions.
It found 33% of migrants with low English proficiency who had been in Australia for more than 11 years had one or more long term health conditions, compared with 23% of migrants with a high English proficiency (who had been in Australia the same period).
“Indicators like the length of time migrants have been in Australia can give a picture of how familiar they are with Australian society and health practices,” Ms Sparke said.
“It is also useful to explore how the social characteristics of migrants change with length of time spent in Australia. Using this indicator in combination with others can better inform … socio-cultural differences between the CALD populations.”
FECCA has referred to these findings as “concerning” and has called for urgent government investment in multicultural health and social services.
“This report confirms yet again the need to invest in multicultural health and to devise a multicultural health strategy that supports equitable health outcomes for multicultural Australians,” FECCA chief executive officer Mohammad Al-Khafaji said.
The AIHW noted that the prevalence of chronic health conditions generally increased with the number of years since arriving in Australia for most countries of birth, even after controlling for age.
The report also found a greater prevalence of asthma among people with English proficiency, regardless of their background.
“Considering Australia is regarded as having one of the best health systems in the world, we need to ask why the health of migrants declines the longer they stay in Australia,” said Ms Marina Chand, director of Brisbane-based multicultural health service, World Wellness Group.
Ms Chand suggested that low English language proficiency should be considered a determinant of health.
“The multicultural health sector has long called for ‘racism’ and ‘English proficiency’ to be included in government definitions and approaches to the determinants of health,” she said.
Mr Al-Khafaji said that FECCA had long been concerned about national deficits and inconsistencies in the collection of data relating to Australia’s cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity.
“Our 2020 Issues Paper If we don’t count it … it doesn’t count examined the impact of these deficits in administrative and survey data in all domains, not just in health,” he said.
The AIHW said its new report helps build a clearer picture of the health of all Australians.
“With [our country having] such diversity, today’s report is fundamental to building a more complete picture of the health status of more than 7 million CALD people living in Australia,” AIHW spokesperson Claire Sparke said.
“It will help build a clearer understanding of the health differences between CALD populations, enabling better design and delivery of services to ensure they can access the health and community services they require.”