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The Hills Shire Council Gets Behind Multicultural Community Support Forum

The Hills Shire Deputy Mayor, Councillor Robyn Preston, joined community groups, police and emergency services at a Multicultural Community Support Forum on Wednesday, September 28, Organised by The Hills Shire Council.

The forum, which was put on by Hills Local Area Command (LAC) and held at the Castle Grand Community Centre, provided residents from non-English speaking backgrounds the opportunity to access interpreters and connect with essential services in The Hills Shire.

Deputy Mayor Preston, who spoke at the event, thanked Hills LAC for hosting the forum.

“Moving to a brand new country can be hard enough, let alone knowing what services are available to help our newest residents integrate easily into the community,” Deputy Mayor Preston said.

“This forum allows people from non-English speaking backgrounds to access help, as well as learn about personal safety and what to do in an emergency.

“Castle Hill Police have done a terrific job in hosting this important initiative and The Hills Shire Council would like to thank everybody involved.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), people born in the United Kingdom are more likely tocall The Sydney Hills home, followed by people from China, India and South Africa.

Deputy Mayor Preston said the Council’s customer service centre is very responsive to all residents and they have a number of multilingual staff available to assist with enquiries.

“Our library is well-resourced and we have many groups and activities that aim to include everyone in our community,” Deputy Mayor Preston said.

“The Tech Savvy Seniors – a digital literacy workshop – runs very popular sessions held in community languages including Chinese and Korean.

“We also offer child care services, volunteering opportunities and family events to bring the community together,” Deputy Mayor Preston added.

The forum was a first for The Hills community and included helpful advice from a representative from the Department of Fair Trading.

“The audience were given great tips on their rights as consumers,” Deputy Mayor Preston said.

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