Intercultural cities

Council endorses Intercultural Strategy 2023-2026

Council has reaffirmed its commitment to our culturally diverse communities by endorsing its first ever Intercultural Strategy 2023-2026 at the December 2023 meeting. 

The Strategy, which builds on the community’s strengths and experiences as a multicultural city, embraces interculturalism to help grow a socially cohesive city, as well as promoting inclusivity and diversity. It seeks to foster learning, dialogue and relationships between cultures.

View the Intercultural Strategy 2023-2026(PDF, 288KB)

Council’s commitment to become an ‘intercultural city’

On 20 June 2017 Council endorsed the Council Plan 2017- 2021 with a commitment to facilitate the development of Maribyrnong as an ‘intercultural city’ that promotes inclusivity and diversity. An ‘intercultural city’ has multiple nationalities, languages and beliefs with tools to manage diversity, cultural conflict, recognise/reconcile the first people and greater mixing and interaction between groups in public spaces.

What is the Intercultural Cities Programme?

The Intercultural Cities Programme is a Council of Europe initiative that supports cities internationally to review their policies through an intercultural lens and develop comprehensive intercultural strategies to enable them to manage diversity positively and realise their diversity advantage.

City of Maribyrnong officially became a member of the Intercultural Cities Programme on 24 October 2018. Our Intercultural Cities profile which includes results of the Intercultural Cities Index is now online. City of Maribyrnong is among 145 cities who are already members of the Intercultural Cities Network. Other Australian members of the network include Ballarat City Council and Melton City Council.  

The Mayor, along with CEO Stephen Wall, hosted a bilingual storytime session in English and Vietnamese, explaining the importance of cultural diversity in our City, and Council’s commitment to promoting inclusivity. The storytime booklet(PDF, 11MB) is a simple way to explain what it means to be an Intercultural City. 

Find out more about the Intercultural Cities Program.

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Welcome zone and Refugee and Asylum Seeker Statement

Council does not provide settlement services but has a key role in ensuring that our service offerings such as sport and recreation, libraries, youth services and family services are inclusive of people who have arrived on humanitarian visas, people seeking asylum, those from refugee backgrounds who arrive on other visa types, and individuals who have migrated to Australia.

The City of Maribyrnong officially became a Refugee Welcome Zone when Council made a commitment to welcome refugees into the community, uphold their human rights, demonstrate compassion, and enhance cultural and religious diversity in the community. We will continue to further this commitment to ensure Maribyrnong is a place where all people feel welcome.

Find out more about our Welcoming Cities Program

Reducing Racism

We value diversity as a source of creativity and innovation, and we want to continue to foster and promote a sense of belonging amongst our community that highlights the advantage of diversity and the importance of respecting differences.

As part of this commitment to our multicultural community engaging in an intercultural way, we are raising awareness about the importance of reducing diversity-related prejudices that lay the foundations of discriminatory and racist attitudes within our community. Council is committed to:

• raising awareness of racism and how it affects individuals and the broader community

• identifying, promoting and building on positive programs to prevent and reduce racism

• empower communities and individuals to take action to prevent and reduce racism and to seek help when it occurs

Find more about Reducing Racism

Have you experienced racism in a workplace?

If you believe you have been subjected to racism in the workplace you should submit a complaint with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

To submit a complaint online visit the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s website.