News Alert |

Ballarat’s rich diversity will be celebrated with the launch of the City of Ballarat’s Intercultural City Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the announcement of the 10 new Intercultural Ambassadors at a special event tomorrow.

As Australia’s first Intercultural City, the Strategy demonstrates the vision of Ballarat as an inclusive intercultural community that celebrates diversity and welcomes people of all cultures. It also provides direction for the City of Ballarat to plan for the needs of its communities throughout the next four years. 

The Strategy, which builds on the City of Ballarat’s successfully implemented and completed Cultural Diversity Strategic Plan 2009-2014, is anchored on four key priority areas – responsive services, active citizenship, leadership and advocacy, maximising and valuing diversity. 

It identifies key actions including: 

the Intercultural Ambassador Program, which trains and supports Ambassadors to represent their communities and build their capacity  the Intercultural Information Place (IIP) based at the Ballarat Library, where new migrants can access information about various services and receive assistance to help build their skills and networks   the Intercultural Employment Pathways (IEP) Program which will prepare new and existing men, women and youth migrants to be job ready or to acquire entrepreneurial skills 

The Strategy was developed following ongoing research, community engagement and consultation with City of Ballarat staff, stakeholders, intercultural community groups and other organisations. 

The City of Ballarat will also announce its 10 new Intercultural Ambassadors, as part of its new Intercultural Ambassador Program, formerly known as the Multicultural Ambassador Program, and thank its outgoing Multicultural Ambassadors 2016-2017. 

City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh says the Intercultural City Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the new Intercultural Ambassadors further advances Ballarat as a city where diversity becomes the norm. 

“We all know Ballarat’s culturally diverse communities bring a wealth of skills, experiences and innovative ideas. They enrich the social, civic, economic and cultural fabric of our intercultural city,” Cr McIntosh says. 

“Our city’s growing diversity presents numerous opportunities to enhance social cohesion. This Strategy and our incredible Intercultural Ambassadors will ensure all members of our community can help create a Ballarat that is bold, vibrant and thriving.” 

The Council of Europe endorsed Ballarat as Australia’s first Intercultural City in 2016. 

Membership of the Intercultural Cities Network brings a number of benefits, including access to information on proven approaches that help translate increasing levels of cultural diversity into economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits. 

Ballarat’s increasing diversity is reflected in 2016 Census figures, which show Ballarat is a city where: 

9.6 per cent or 9,655 people were born overseas  of these, 5.4 per cent or 5,499 spoke a language other than English at home and 1.4 per cent or 1,470 identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander  main languages, other than English, spoken include Mandarin, Filipino, Tagalog, Punjabi, Hindi, Italian, Dutch, Cantonese, German, Arabic, Japanese and Greek  immigrants come from at least 89 different countries and 219 ancestries  countries of birth include England (2,080 people), India (860), New Zealand (763), China (717), Netherlands (537), Philippines (415), Scotland (355), Germany (288), USA (233), South Africa (210), Malaysia (183) and Italy (179).