Faced with the reality that climate change adaptation is both essential and unavoidable, vulnerability and adaptive capacity have become a focus of climate change research and policy initiatives. To date, much of this research has reiterated seemingly fixed notions of the determinants of vulnerability and reduced adaptive capacity; limited economic resources, limited education and skills, low social capital, poor technology and infrastructure and limited access to resources. As a result, particular social groups, including ethnic minorities, are often considered to be highly vulnerable to climate change and have reduced adaptive capacity. This research begins to challenge these existing notions. By moving from deficit-model thinking, which focuses on weaknesses or vulnerabilities, to a strength-based perspective which focuses on personal strengths, experiences, possibilities, and capacities, we argue that the diverse cultural knowledges, skills and practices of ethnic minority households contribute to adaptive capacity. Drawing on cross-cultural research, including a survey of 679 New South Wales households from a range of ethnic backgrounds (including Chinese, Arabic speaking, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian and Anglo-Australian), we find that adaptive capacity is culturally variable, and that the attributes and vernacular practices of ethnic minority households, such as household structure, water and energy use, food production and consumption, and transport practices may contribute to adaptive capacity. In doing so, this research highlights the importance of recognizing the unique knowledges and diverse range of skills and practices of ethnically diverse households, and the need to better understand how these knowledges, skills and practices contribute to adaptive capacity and adaptation.