Blog, 27 March 2026: Putting Community at the Heart: Reflections from the Ethnolink Summit

By Amanda Seek, Program Manager

If people can’t see themselves in the support you offer, they won’t use it, no matter how important it is.

On 20 March, I attended the Ethnolink Summit at the Hilton Sydney, where one message came through loud and clear: meaningful engagement with multicultural communities goes far beyond translation.

Instead, it requires deep collaboration, cultural understanding, and lived experience.

We heard from the Butterfly Foundation about how they tailored eating disorder resources for Arabic-speaking communities. Eating disorders are not widely recognised as mental health issues in many Arabic-speaking contexts. In fact, there isn’t even a direct term for “eating disorder” in the Arabic language. This reframing was powerful and highlighted how Western clinical language doesn’t always translate.

This resonated deeply with my own experience of growing up in a Chinese Singaporean household. Discussions around eating disorders and body image were largely absent. Instead, conversations were reduced to binaries like “fat” or “skinny” and carried very different framings around health compared to Western frameworks.

Rare Cancers Australia highlighted the limited awareness of cancer support among multicultural communities and explored strategies to make this support more accessible. This spoke volumes about the gap between services and access. It’s not enough to create support systems, they must be visible and trusted.

Across each session, there were a few key ideas which consistently emerged.

We heard about the importance of plain language. That resources should minimise jargon, use fewer words, and incorporate visuals to help understanding.

Speakers also highlighted the need for content to be action oriented. Breaking down steps and offering solutions makes support feel more accessible and immediate for many multicultural communities.

Importantly, sessions emphasised the need to move beyond translation and towards deep engagement with community.

One of the most memorable examples was a Punchy Digital Media campaign targeting Punjabi truck drivers. Instead of simply translating existing materials, they co-created them with community, thought about where those resources would actually be seen, like places of worship and community spaces, and collaborated with trusted community leaders to share them.

Translation is just the starting point.

Real impact comes from listening, collaborating, and adapting in ways that reflect how different communities understand health, language, and support.

When resources feel familiar, relevant, and actionable, they have the potential to empower communities, not just inform them.

Amanda Seek is the Collaborative’s Program Manager. She is a public health professional specialising in health equity, cultural inclusion, and community engagement.