In a brief study published in the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers examined the extent of exclusion of migrants and members of ethnic minorities from clinical trials, on the basis that this practice may compromise the generalisability of research findings. All clinical trials to be conducted in Australia (registered between 1 June 2015 and 31 August 2015) were examined. Trials were considered to have excluded participants with low English proficiency if explicit statements to this effect were included in the inclusion or exclusion criteria. It was found that 71 of 342 trials (21%) specifically stated that participants with low English proficiency would be excluded, and only one trial specifically targeted participants with low English proficiency (providing translated material). Compared to cancer treatment, exclusions of participants with low English proficiency was nearly three times as common for treatments for pain and psychiatric issues.The researchers state that the actual exclusion rate was probably higher than 1 in 5 studies, as trials may exclude participants with low English proficiency during the process of obtaining informed consent. In that older people from Culturally and Linguistically Distinct (CALD) backgrounds are likely to have lower English language proficiency, this is a problem that is likely to be over-represented amongst the elderly.