Building Social Cohesion in Our Communities is an online evidence-based resource developed by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government for the Australian Human Rights Commission under the National Anti-Racism Strategy.

Local governments know and understand their communities much better than any other level of government. Through strategic planning processes they engage with their community to understand their needs and wants, enabling them to deliver a range of economic, environmental and social outcomes across diverse areas including land use planning, infrastructure development and social cohesion.

This resource is intended to help local governments build strong, socially cohesive communities. It aims to help local governments to:

• Understand their communities and measure their strengths and weaknesses
• Engage their communities and build partnerships between key stakeholders
• Prevent and respond to incidents of racism and conflict between groups if they arise
• Strategically plan for the needs of their communities now and into the future
• Monitor, evaluate and share outcomes.