New initiative to assist new Aussies across Wagga launched as the city prepares to mark Respect Week

Wagga group Respect Awareness has created pamphlets to assist non-English speakers in Wagga with access to key community services.

Respect board member Lisa Taylor first put forward the idea after a shot of inspiration.

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"I was sitting in a doctor's surgery and there were people from all different cultures there," Ms Taylor said.

"There were emergency numbers up on the wall, but the people especially older ones needed to know what emergency numbers were, but they couldn't read it.

"Even though there were a lot of brochures, they were all in English."

The brochures are being translated into Arabic, Kurdish, Dari and Burmese, spoken by members of the local community.

Respect founder and former president Ronda Lampe said the brochure will assist people who arrive in Wagga from overseas.

"By translating it into their language and having phone numbers of [community services], that will be a big help," Mrs Lampe said.

One such person is Yazidi woman Ronak Hasan, 25, who moved to Wagga from Iraq with her father six years ago and found it quite difficult adjusting to the new culture.

"At the beginning it was really hard for us... because the only language spoken was English and we couldn't communicate with other people if we needed something like to go to the hospital or to get some shopping," Ms Hasan said.

"But it has improved since then."

Ms Hasan recalled finding it quite difficult to talk with people due to the language barrier and said the multilingual pamphlet is a great idea.

"It will be really helpful, especially for older members of the community," she said.

The Multiculturalism Council of Wagga collaborated with Respect Awareness to produce the brochure.

"We were in consultation with Respect on what languages to translate into," the council's community development officer Thom Paton said.

"It's a wonderful idea. Having translated resources makes people feel more welcome and part of the community."

"On behalf of the council of Wagga and the communities we work closely with, I'd like to thank the group for their inclusive gesture.

"As a city, Wagga's diversity continues to grow, with data from last year's census reporting 11.4 per cent of people in the city were born overseas, while nine per cent spoke a language other than English at home."

Launched in 1997 as a way to tackle a significant vandalism problem in Wagga, the group has since grown into a city-wide education initiative to teach the value of respecting others.

Respect week will launch this Saturday November 12 and run until the 19th with a stand to be set up at the Marketplace shopping centre.

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