NDIS support in the language you are most comfortable in
You can ask for a support worker who speaks your language. Here is what we can actually match, and the question that gets an honest answer from any provider.
Asking for a worker who speaks your language is a normal request
It is not a favour and it is not awkward. Support work is intimate: it involves your home, your body, your routines and your family. Being able to say no, explain a preference, correct something or make a joke without it becoming a whole conversation is the difference between support that feels like support and support that feels like something being done to you. For older people in particular, a first language is often the one that stays most comfortable, even after decades of speaking English.
The question that actually gets you a useful answer
Nearly every provider will tell you their team speaks many languages. That can be true and still useless to you, because a speaker employed somewhere in the organisation is not the same as a speaker who can be rostered to your Tuesday morning shift, in your suburb, for the support you need. Ask it that way: can a worker who speaks my language actually be rostered to me, on these days, at these times? A provider who has thought about it will answer specifically. A provider who has not will repeat the list.
Languages, and how confident we are about each
Confirmed rosterable
Dari, Persian
Speakers we can currently roster, not just people who work here. Ask when you call and we will arrange it.
Spoken within our team
Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Mandarin, Sinhalese, Gujarati, Farsi
Spoken by members of our team. Whether a speaker is available for your suburb, days and times is a separate question, and it is the one worth asking. We will answer it honestly on the phone rather than promise it here.
If your language is not listed, say so anyway. We will tell you straight whether we can help, and interpreting can be arranged for the conversations that matter either way.
Interpreters are a separate thing, and they are free for a lot of situations
Interpreting for NDIS planning conversations and for supports arranged through registered providers is generally arranged and paid for by the NDIA rather than by you, and providers are told they are responsible for offering it. That is worth knowing before anyone suggests you bring a family member to translate. Asking a child to interpret a conversation about a parent’s personal care is common, and it is not fair on either of them.
Where this matters most in Melbourne
Greater Dandenong and Casey are among the most linguistically diverse council areas in Australia, and provider offerings have not kept pace with that. In the growth suburbs east and south of the city, families who would never need an interpreter for anything else regularly end up managing personal care conversations in a second language, because nobody offered them an alternative.
More detail: finding NDIS support in your language across Melbourne, and what to ask before you commit in questions to ask an NDIS provider.
Common questions
Can I ask for a support worker who speaks my language?
Yes, and you should ask directly rather than hoping it is offered. Say it before your first shift so it is built into rostering from the start. If a provider cannot match you, a straight no is more useful than a maybe, because it lets you keep looking.
Which languages does SESI speak?
Our team includes speakers of Dari and Persian who can be rostered, and the wider team speaks Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Mandarin, Sinhalese, Gujarati and Farsi. Whether a speaker of a particular language is available for your days, times and suburb is something we will confirm on the phone rather than promise here.
What if you do not have anyone who speaks my language?
We will tell you. Interpreting can be arranged for the conversations that set everything up, and for the ongoing supports we will be honest about what we can and cannot match rather than putting someone in your home who cannot talk to you.
Who pays for an interpreter?
For NDIS planning conversations and for supports arranged through registered providers, interpreting is generally arranged and funded by the NDIA rather than billed to you or taken out of your plan. If someone tells you it will come out of your budget, ask them to show you where.
Can I ask for a worker of a particular gender as well as language?
Yes. Both are ordinary rostering requests, and both work better raised before your first shift than after one you were not comfortable with.
Tell us which language, and we will tell you honestly
No list, no maybe. We will say whether we can roster a speaker for your days and times, and if we cannot we will say that instead.