Rehabilitation Counselling with Clients from Non-English Speaking Countries

Abstract

People born in non-English Speaking Countries (NESCs) and resident in Australia make up 14.2% of the Australian population and a sizeable proportion of the current immigration program — the humanitarian and non-humanitarian components. This article presents some background about the numbers of overseas born people resident in Australia especially those from NESCs, a brief history of the Australian immigration program, and the present policy of multiculturalism in the context of settlement. Some of these overseas born people have already, or are likely to, participate in rehabilitation counselling, and it is argued that rehabilitation counselling processes will be enhanced with a knowledge of such clients' culture as well as the practical application of general cross-cultural casework skills.