The 2021 Welcoming Cities Symposium was a great success, the first in-person Symposium in two years, it was exciting to feel the buzz of ideas and new connections in the room. A packed program featured Professor Megan Davis delivering the First Nations keynote, Tim Dixon (International keynote), George Megalogenis (National … Read More
Putting out the Welcome Mat
Bringing The Standard to life by celebrating and sharing a snapshot of the exceptional work delivered by local councils and their communities Putting out the welcome mat supports you to develop successful plans, initiatives, policy documents, partnerships and ideas that will advance welcoming work in your local council and community. … Read More
Stories of Welcome – Volume 2
Strategies and case studies for building a Welcoming City Stories of Welcome is a growing collection of case studies from some of Welcoming Cities’ member councils, offering a brief example of some of the great work that is happening in communities across Australia. Volume 2 shares 15 case studies across … Read More
City of Greater Bendigo becomes the first accredited Welcoming City
Welcoming Cities celebrates the City of Greater Bendigo as the first local government in Australia to achieve accreditation as a ‘Welcoming City’. Successful accreditation acknowledges the significant work of Council to make the City more welcoming and inclusive. The City of Greater Bendigo’s application was externally assessed by Monash University who considered the City’s policy and practice against all six categories of the Welcoming Cities Standard. Steven Abbott, Manager, Community Partnerships at the City of Greater … Read More
First things first: effective leadership in local government
Effective leaders should pose and seek to answer the question “‘who do we want to be?” Of all tiers of government, none have a better understanding of the complexity and nuances of their community than local councils. Engaging directly with local businesses, residents and service providers, they are well-placed, as facilitators … Read More
Stronger together: 50th Local Council joins Welcoming Cities
Network now represents more than 30 per cent of Australia’s population South Australia’s City of Playford has joined the national Welcoming Cities network, making it the 50th local Council to sign on. As COVID-19 puts pressure on communities, this growing group is leveraging multiculturalism and migration to keep everyone together. Welcoming … Read More
Help Your Neighbour
The City of Greater Bendigo, VicApproximate population 116,000. 7% overseas born. 1.7% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The ‘Help Your Neighbour’ campaign is a community led response to help vulnerable people during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the Covid-19 pandemic, staff at The City of Greater Bendigo and Bendigo Foodshare saw … Read More
Virtual Welcoming Cities Symposium 2020
Due to COVID-19, Welcoming Cities hosted a virtual Symposium. The virtual symposium will consist of weekly webinars sharing all of the presentations from the original Symposium program. The “Virtual” Welcoming Cities Symposium features all of the presenters, from the cancelled Symposium in weekly sessions. The Welcoming Cities Symposium brings together … Read More
Stories of Welcome – Volume 1
Strategies and case studies for building a Welcoming City Stories of Welcome is a collection of nine case studies, from some of Welcoming Cities’ member councils, showcasing a small sample of the great work that is happening in communities across Australia. Our members recognise the value of diversity to the … Read More
Cancellation of the 2020 Welcoming Cities Symposium due to COVID-19
We have made the extremely difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Welcoming Cities Symposium. We have been actively monitoring the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic; and, after conversations with our event partners – Scanlon Foundation, ACT Government and Department of Home Affairs – we believe this is the correct course … Read More
Planning for Welcoming & Inclusive Communities
Guidelines for regional growth Regional councils looking to attract, retain and support migrants and refugees to thrive in their communities now have a resource to help them plan and assess their readiness with the launch of Planning for Welcoming and Inclusive Communities: Guidelines for Regional Growth. The Guidelines, funded by the … Read More
Not all children can see themselves in a blonde Barbie
Diversity is a case of child’s play In the 1940s, psychologists Mammie and Kenneth Clark conducted a test using toy dolls to study young children’s racial perceptions. The study, colloquially known as The Doll Test used four dolls, identical except for their colour. The children, all African-American, were asked to identify which … Read More
Australian Migration and Settlement Awards
Congratulation to the shortlisted councils in the Welcoming Communities Award for Excellence in Local Government. We are proud that all of the shortlisted candidates are members of the Welcoming Cities Network. Winner City of Stirling City of Stirling Multicultural Framework The City of Stirling developed its Multicultural Framework to build on what … Read More
City of Melbourne commits to inclusion for all
The City of Melbourne has become the 36th local council and the 6th Australian capital city to join the Welcoming Cities network. Lord Mayor Sally Capp formally signed the commitment form surrounded by Councillors holding various statements of welcome and affirming their commitment to ensuring that the City’s policies, programs … Read More
Steps to Settlement Success
A Toolkit for Rural and Regional Communities The Regional Australia Institute has developed a toolkit to respond to the information needs of rural and regional communities looking to settle migrants locally, be they migrants coming in from big Australian cities or overseas, entrants to Australia on skilled working visas or … Read More
Diversity is More Than a Quota
3 steps to help address bias and increase inclusion within your organisation As the benefits for diversity within organisations become better understood, companies are quickly scrambling to rebrand their organisations to create an inclusive and diverse workforce. However, many companies still fail to attract interest from diverse candidates, or they … Read More
Symposium 2019 – wrap-up and presentations
By all accounts, the 2019 Welcoming Cities Symposium was our most successful yet. A packed program featured Professor Anita Heiss delivering the inaugural First Nations keynote, Kenan Malik (International keynote), Abul Rizvi (National keynote) and an exceptional line-up of community practitioners, Local Government representatives, researchers, and community leaders. From First … Read More
Settling migrants in regional areas will need more than a visa to succeed
John van Kooy, Monash University and Rebecca Wickes, Monash University Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced two new regional visas as part of a national population plan. The Skilled Employer Sponsored and Skilled Work regional visas require workers to live outside major cities for three years before they can apply … Read More
Sydney residents are giving new migrants welcome tours
Welcome2Sydney helps new people navigate the city Welcome2Sydney is a project co-designed by The City of Sydney and Settlement Services International (SSI). The project connects volunteer ambassadors with newcomers to the area with the aim of encouraging people to explore the city, develop a sense of belonging, and build greater … Read More
An Evidence-Based Approach to Migration in Regional Queensland
The Queensland Government, through the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs (DLGRMA) is working with Welcoming Cities to explore leading practice to support interested regional councils in attracting, growing and retaining diversity. Under the banner of Welcoming and Inclusive Communities, Welcoming Cities has delivered an initial research project … Read More