The Welcoming Cities team are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Welcoming Cities Awards for Change. The awards celebrate leading practice and innovation in advancing welcoming and inclusive communities. The Welcoming Cities Awards celebrate change made in communities by individuals, organisations and local councils. They acknowledge the progress that strengthens social cohesion with newly … 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
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
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
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
The Art of Welcome
The idea of welcome as more than a greeting, but as an underpinning of commerce and socioeconomic development, existed centuries before colonial rulers long over-stayed theirs. Richard Trudgen in his seminal work on the Yolŋu outlines the trade practices of the First Nations peoples from what is now known as … Read More
Building Tomorrow’s Communities
“That the National General Assembly supports the Welcoming Cities initiative launched by the Scanlon Foundation and Welcome to Australia in March 2016; and the development of The Australian Standard for Welcoming Cities, to support local councils in their work to create more inclusive communities” – Resolution carried at the Australian … Read More
Welcome is Not a Dirty Word
Current sound bites, headlines and social media diatribe would suggest the life support system has long been turned off on visionary and principled leadership in Australian politics. The daily mantra seems to be – Another day, another opportunity to drive a wedge between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Whether it’s denigrating people … Read More
It’s Time to Rescue Brand “Australia”
A few career changes ago, I managed a branding and design agency. Our primary task was to help our clients communicate their organisation, product or service. We worked to create a strong brand so that people would choose our client’s company or service over and above their many competitors. Since … Read More
6 Steps to Countering a Narrative of Fear
Welcome to Australia. A nation of contrasting landscapes, people and politics. Where we perform welcome to country at most major events, yet the traditional owners struggle for legitimacy and recognition on their land. Where almost everyone you meet has a migrant story, yet the current government is in a race … Read More
When Fear Trumps Fact
As the dust begins to settle on Australia’s 2016 federal election, concerns are being raised about one of the clear outcomes – the return of Pauline Hanson and One Nation. The political party’s policies on multiculturalism, Islam, and immigration champion a return to assimilationist White Australia policy and zero net … Read More
Migration is a Solution, Not a Problem
8 things a whirlwind trip across the United States revealed and reminded me about welcome In the last two weeks of April 2016, I had the opportunity to travel across the United States with a couple of my Welcome to Australia colleagues*. We began in Atlanta for Welcoming America’s national … Read More