Townsville HHS multicultural champion honoured with lifetime achievement award

Townsville Hospital and Health Service’s multicultural health liaison officer Raj Mudanzi has received statewide recognition after more than two decades of work as a multicultural leader. 

Mr Mudanzi recently received the Highly Commended Lifetime Achiever award at the 2026 Multicultural Queensland Awards where he was recognised for his years of service including his leadership in developing rare language interpreter pathways and supporting emerging community leaders.

Mr Mudanzi said it came as a complete shock when he learned he had been nominated for an award.

“I have been working alongside multicultural and refugee communities for a long time, helping them to navigate the system and give them more confidence in engaging with government services like healthcare,” Mr Mudanzi said.

 “I was a refugee so I know some of the challenges people face coming to a new country and it is a privilege to be able to help people navigate those challenges.

 “For example, if you come from another country to Australia then your view and interactions with the healthcare system might be completely different and you might not engage in getting the support you need because you don’t understand it.

“Part of my role is to bridge that understanding through education and developing resources like rare language interpreters so our multicultural community feels more confident to engage with services like healthcare which then also helps to create a greater sense of belonging.

“Receiving this achievement was very special because the nomination has come from the community so it tells me that we are doing something right.

 "This recognition also reflects the dedication of clinicians across the health service who work every day to make our services more inclusive and culturally responsive.

 “Their commitment to understanding and supporting patients from diverse backgrounds is a vital part of the progress we are making together.”

 Chronic disease nurse navigator service nurse manager Amy Frame works with Mr Mudanzi and she said he was very deserving of the achievement.

 “The work Raj has done to not only help people from different cultures understand how to access and use the healthcare system here but also helping clinicians better work with people from different backgrounds has been incredible,” Ms Frame said.

 “Since Raj has come on board with the health service we have seen greater engagement from our multicultural community in accessing healthcare.

 “His work is helping to reduce some of those barriers and I am not surprised to see him recognised for the important work he has done in our community.”