Wyndham City and Melton City Council have launched a major new initiative together with Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Fire Rescue Victoria, the Country Fire Authority and Victoria State Emergency Service to help culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Melbourne's west prepare for emergencies.
The new Are You Ready? Emergency Preparedness video series, is available in 10 languages including Auslan providing an important resource to those vulnerable in times of crisis due to language barriers.
Each of the short 15 videos provide essential information on how to contact emergency services in Victoria, identifies each of the emergency services; how they will interact and assist in a crisis and describes the best way members of the community can remain calm and respond in a crisis.
The initiative features translations in English, Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Vietnamese, Burmese, Karen, Karenni, Hakha Chin and Auslan, further translations will be developed to add to this library of resources.
Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Mia Shaw said the series was a vital resource to communities across Melbourne, with English as a second language.
"48 per cent of the Wyndham City population was born overseas and nearly half the population, speak a language other than English at home, making this an invaluable resource to help our residents remain calm in a crisis and receive the help they need," Cr Shaw said.
City of Melton Mayor, Cr Steve Abboushi said Melton was proud to have supported the development of Are You Ready? Emergency Preparedness Videos.
"Are You Ready? is a joint initiative with Wyndham City that we have proudly supported for several years. It provides people with resources to plan for emergencies and develop a plan together with their families," Cr Abboushi said.
"This series of translated videos broadens the reach of the existing campaign to our culturally and linguistically diverse communities and provides an educational resource that further empowers them to make decisions when experiencing crisis," he said.
This event and project are delivered with funding from the Australian Government.
