The state peak bodies of the Maltese community across Australia have joined together in a campaign to encourage people to recognise their Maltese ancestry and language in the upcoming Census.
The Census, this year being on 10 August, has several questions that relate to people’s country of birth, ancestry and language use.
The organisations are encouraging everyone of Maltese descent to respond to these questions by stating that they have Maltese ancestry and that, if they speak even only a bit of Maltese, to say they do so too.
Maltese Australians are proud of their culture but unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, this isn’t always shown in places where it really counts, like the Census.
It’s really important that people properly acknowledge their culture and language in the Census because this information is used to make important decisions about the health, welfare and social services and programs our community needs and deserves.
Governments, councils and other organisations all use Census data to decide how they will fund their services.
If the Census doesn’t truly reflect the size and breadth of our Maltese-Australian community, many services and programs may be under threat or may not be provided.
So it’s up to every one of us to say we’re Maltese where it counts: in the Census!
This is a joint initiative of the:
- Maltese Association of Western Australia;
- Maltese Community Council of NSW;
- Maltese Community Council of South Australia;
- and Maltese Community Council of Victoria.
