Every Answer Matters: Why the 2026 Census Is Essential for Multicultural Health Equity

By Priyanka Rai, Executive Director

I met a woman recently from a South Asian community in a regional area who was so frustrated, she actually cried. She’d been to the hospital emergency department with chest pain and anxiety, and the interpreter they called didn’t arrive for an hour. She’d already told the triage nurse what was wrong, in her best attempt at communicating in English, and by the time the interpreter got there, she’d given up. She just said, “chest pain” and “worry.”  

After a long and confusing wait, a doctor prescribed something, and she was discharged. But she left feeling there were details she couldn’t get across in English. Things about when the pain started, how it felt in her first language, that she had already lost close family relatives to a sudden heart attack… she couldn’t communicate what she was actually afraid of. 

When I later asked why the hospital didn’t have someone on staff who spoke her language, the department manager looked at me like I’d asked for the moon. “Our funding doesn’t support it,” they said. “The Census data from five years ago showed there weren’t enough speakers of that language in the area. Our health funding allocation is too small to justify permanent positions.” 

And there it was. Census undercounting directly impacting health funding. We know that health funding flows directly into service design and service design flows directly into whether this woman can explain her chest pain in the language she thinks in, the language she is familiar enough with to voice all those concerns. 

This is why participating in the Census matters. Every five year, millions of people from multicultural communities participate in the Census, which is one of the most important ways to ensure that the diversity of Australia is fully visible in the data. 

When you fill in the Census, you answer specific questions that directly inform how health services are planned and funded in your community. You provide your country of birth, the year you arrived in Australia, what language you speak at home, and how well you speak English. These facts determine whether your community gets the health services it actually needs. 

This data flows directly into funding decisions for multilingual health services, mental health support that reflects lived experience, aged care for seniors who feel safe only in their first language, and geographic targeting of health infrastructure. Without accurate data on languages spoken at home and English proficiency, services are built on assumption, not evidence. Interpreters become expensive afterthoughts and multilingual staff aren’t justified as permanent positions. 

In simple words, when communities are undercounted in the Census, health funding shrinks. This isn’t just an academic or research gap, as far as the system is concerned this is a lack of evidence to support investment and this has a material and very real impact.  

We do also know that multicultural communities may be hesitant to engage with the Census. We know that trust in government systems can be a barrier to Census participation, particularly for communities with experiences of trauma or displacement. That barrier is real and valid. 

It is also important to know that Census information is protected by law. It cannot be shared with any government department, law enforcement body, or any commercial organisation. Ever. 

Finally, this year there is also support available in more than 25 languages, including fill-in sessions and pop-up hubs that are running in communities across the country. So, you do not have to navigate this year’s Census alone. 

If you live in Australia, your Census form is a tool to make your community visible in the data. This is how multicultural communities can claim space and argue for services that actually reflect our needs. 

Visit https://info.census.abs.gov.au/  to find support in your language.

Priyanka Rai is the Collaborative’s Executive Director. She brings more than 15 years of experience across healthcare, advocacy, and non-profit leadership.