Multicultural Community Outreach Program (MCOP)

About

The Multicultural Community Outreach Program was delivered in two phases to support culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project helped communities access clear, trusted COVIDSafe information and encouraged safe health practices, including vaccination. A key focus across both phases was co-design, so messages were created with communities, in community languages, and shared through trusted local networks.

Timing

Phase 1 (MCOP 1): 2021
Focused on co-design workshops and creating in-language story-based resources that shared lived experience and encouraged vaccination.

Phase 2 (MCOP 2): 2022
Expanded co-design and community-led content creation, with a stronger focus on vaccine hesitancy, long COVID misinformation and skills development through training.

Who was involved

Across both phases, Australian Multicultural Community Services (AMCS) worked with multicultural community members and community groups in Victoria.

Phase 1 (2021):

• 37 community members from diverse cultural backgrounds participated in co-design workshops.

Phase 2 (2022):

• AMCS collaborated with 11 Victorian community groups representing multicultural backgrounds including Sri Lankan, Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil, Indian Tamil, Indian Hindu, Vietnamese, Afghan, Lebanese, Palestinian, Maltese and Egyptian communities.
• More than 100 ethnic community leaders and members took part in workshops, training and content creation.

Funders

This project was supported by the Victorian Government through the Multicultural Communications Outreach Program (MCOP).
Phase 2 was supported through funding from the Victorian Government’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

Benefits for participants and community

Across both phases, the program provided:

• COVIDSafe messages in community languages, improving understanding and accessibility
• Community-led messaging that felt trusted and culturally relevant
• Support to address vaccine hesitancy and reduce misinformation
• Practical skills development for community members involved in training and content creation
• Stronger community confidence to share accurate health information through existing networks

Outcomes and impact

Phase 1 outcomes (2021):

• Co-design workshops held with 37 community members
• 3 resources produced in first languages:
  • 2 videos
  • 1 podcast
• Community members shared their COVID experiences and promoted vaccination

Phase 2 outcomes (2022):

Co-design workshop delivered with more than 100 ethnic community leaders and members

• Communities identified two key priority topics:
• COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
• Dispelling misinformation about long COVID
• 24 community-created COVIDSafe resources produced, including:
  • 5 posters
  • 7 videos
  • 1 TikTok
  • 2 craft pieces
  • 1 cartoon
  • 1 podcast
  • 3 songs
  • 3 drawings
  • 1 photo book
• 7 train-the-trainer programs delivered to support long-term skills development
• Over 100 community members directly involved in content creation
• Materials shared with at least 2,500 community members through trusted community channels