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Be medicinewise

Medicines information
for the cost of a local call.

Medicines Line
1300 MEDICINE
(1300 633 424)
Mon–Fri 9am–5pm AEST
Your call will be answered by healthdirect Australia.

Report a problem with
your medicine
Call the Adverse Medicine Events Line on 1300 134 237.

Contact us

Free consumer resources

Order or subscribe to free consumer print publications and e-alerts.

Receive information on health topics of your choice.

Medicines information for multicultural communities Medicines information for multicultural communities

Although medicines can help improve the health of consumers, all medicines have risks as well as benefits. The risks for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) consumers can be higher, particularly for those with low English language proficiency and literacy levels. 

In addition to our translated health information the National Prescribing Service (NPS), Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) and our partners have other resources that organisations can use to promote the quality use of medicines to CALD consumers. These include:

Translated health information about medicines

NPS works with the FECCA and other partners to provide translated health information about medicines.

The information available below will help you become more familiar with medicines, manage medicines safely and learn more about your medicine options. Information is available in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Macedonian, Arabic, Korean, Spanish and Croatian.

A teaching resource for adult English as a second language classes

Download our ESL teaching resource that can be used in English language classes with adult learners. This resource was developed with the Adult Multicultural Education Services (AMES) Victoria and includes short stories, activity workbooks and audio files about using medicines safely.

Order by fax a free hardcopy of this resource.

MedicinesTalk

Written by consumers for consumers, MedicinesTalk is a free quarterly newsletter that gives reliable, accurate information and useful hints on managing medicines. Organisations can translate articles for their newsletters or community radio.

Download MedicinesTalk articles. 

Publications on medicines use and CALD communities

Download publications on medicines use and CALD communities:

Radio program content

Listen to our radio community service announcements, or download them and place them on your website.

In Cantonese
 In Mandarin
 In Italian

Download the English scripts of the radio community service announcements and you can translate these for your local community radio station:

Download the English script of our radio interviews and you can translate these for your local community radio station. 

Community education sessions

NPS has community presentations that your organisation can run on the safe and wise use of medicines and sleep and ageing. if you would like to run a community education session, please contact us.

NPS Medicines Line

Call NPS Medicines Line on 1300 633 424. NPS works with healthdirect Australia to provide consumers with information on prescription, over-the-counter and herbal and natural medicines. Calls to Medicines Line will be answered by a healthdirect Australia registered nurse. Note this is not an emergency service and does not replace advice from your doctor or pharmacist. This service is available Monday to Friday 9am-5pm AEST for the cost of a local call (mobiles may cost more).

If you need an interpreter, call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 2131 450 ad ask to speak to NPS Medicines Line on 1300 633 424.

Free telephone interpreting service for pharmacists

Registered pharmacies around Australia are now able to access free telephone interpreting services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pharmacies should register with the Translation and Interpreting Service (TIS) National on 131 450.

These free services are also available for:

  • general practitioners providing Medicare services and their reception staff to arrange appointments and provide results of medical tests
  • non-profit, non-government, community-based organisations for case work and emergency services where the organisation does not receive funding to provide these services
  • local government authorities to communicate with non-English speaking residents on issues such as rates, garbage collection and urban services
  • Emergency Management Australia.

Queries and questions?

Please email NPS with any questions or queries on promoting the safe use of medicines with CALD consumers.

Date published: 2010-11-17 00:00:00

Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries when providing medical advice or treatment. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.

References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.