Multicultural communications and engagement agency, Ethnolink, has officially launched its multicultural research offering, following its achievement of ISO 20252:2019 Certification for Market, Opinion, and Social Research.
The new offering will be led by Rachael Adams, a member of The Research Society and head of multicultural communications at Ethnolink.
Adams will oversee the dedicated multicultural research practice focused on developing evidence-based strategies and tactics for clients.
Ethnolink is also collaborating with mainstream research agencies to boost multicultural representation in national studies through participant recruitment and culturally informed fieldwork.
Speaking exclusively to B&T, Adams said that this is a “really exciting step for us”.
“It’s been something we’ve been working on in the background for a really long time, but having this research established now really allows us to advise our clients with even more confidence on how we can best communicate with and help them reach their audiences”.
“At Ethnolink, we’ve got nearly 15 years of experience behind us working in multicultural comms, but no amount of that experience that we have is better than hearing from the community directly. We find that when we’re actually able to speak with people from diverse backgrounds, and they’re the ones who are shaping the campaigns that are going to affect them, the results of the campaigns that we’re able to produce are just so much more powerful and authentic,” Adams explained.
In an increasingly diverse world, it is more important than ever before to connect with all members of society. The biggest challenge in doing this, particularly when dealing with sensitive topics, according to Adams, is “finding the right participants who are willing to speak to us”.
“We recruit unique participants for each project that are basically aligned with the exact audience that we’ve typically identified with our client, but they’re the ones that our clients need to reach. So we conduct research in participants’ own language so that we’re able to ensure we’re talking to people who have low English proficiency and that those communities are represented”.
Another barrier, she said, is digital literacy. “We’re always working really closely with our clients to make sure that we have accessible participation, whether that means adapting the approach to host focus groups in a community space or offering interpreters”.
Trust, however, is how Ethnolink has built a strong connection with these communities, providing valuable research and advice to clients.
“The other challenge, too, is around trust. Trust is so critical, and people need to feel safe and comfortable to share their views, particularly if it’s on a sensitive topic, and over the years, we’ve been able to build really genuine relationships with community members who trust us and regularly work with us”.
Following a year-long certification process, Ethnolink has become one of the few agencies in Australia to hold ISO accreditations across research (ISO 20252), translation (ISO 17100), and post-editing of machine translation (ISO 18587) — reinforcing its integrated model.
“We’re increasingly seeing that government and not-for-profit organisations recognise that multicultural research is a specialised field — one that demands genuine connections and trust with participants,” Vasili said.
“The market is definitely tough at the moment, including for us, but I think we’re still seeing strong demand because we’re focused on solving complex problems for our clients.”
Ethnolink was recently awarded a contract with Cancer Institute NSW to conduct formative research on bowel cancer screening among multicultural populations in New South Wales. This follows its appointment to lead national consultations with multicultural communities across Australia on behalf of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, as part of an integrated natural hazards campaign currently in development.
The agency recorded a 56 per cent surge in second-half revenue during the 2024/2025 financial year, coinciding with the launch of Ethnolink’s new visual identity.
