Building a national network of cities and municipalities committed to an Australia where everyone can belong and participate in social, cultural, economic and civic life.
Location
Parramatta, Australia
Welcoming Cities
Key Stakeholders
Refugees / Migrants
First Nations
Whole Community
Other Stakeholders
Local NGOs, CSOs, CBOs
City Authorities
State / Federal Actors
Academia
Media
Private Sector
Donors
Multilateral Organisations
Relevant SDGS
Disruption
City and Sector
Scaleability
International
Summary
Context
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The benefits of migration, cultural diversity and social cohesion in Australia are not being enjoyed by all.
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First Nations across Australia represent more than 250 language groups and the oldest continuous culture, yet they struggle for recognition and treaty. The City of Parramatta has been home to the Darug People for more than 60,000 years. 0.7% of the city’s population is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.3
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In 2019, 50% of residents in Paramatta were born overseas, compared to 37% of residents in Greater Sydney, Australia’s capital.3
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Overall, by 2050, each individual migrant will on average be contributing approximately 10% more to Australia’s economy than existing residents.4
Interview
In this interview, Aleem Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Welcoming Australia and David Lubell, Founding Director of Welcoming International, tell us how they are working closely with local governments across Australia to build a network of Welcoming Cities inclusive of migrants, refugees, First Nations people and whole communities, and also supporting the ambitions and learning of their global movement of members doing the same in countries around the world.
In the short excerpt below, Aleem briefly explains the big idea behind Welcoming Cities. For the FULL INTERVIEW, please visit Soundcloud or Spotify.
Key Programme Activities
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Community engagement
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Education/behaviour change
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Organisational training/skills building
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Policy/advocacy
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Research
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Stakeholder co-ordination and network-building
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Technical support
Key Outcomes
Since 2016, Welcoming Cities has:
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Catalysed community-level innovations led by local government, such as The Paramatta Dialogues project, Australia’s first model for inter-cultural dialogue and exchange between First Nations persons and newly-arrived migrants, which has generated learning for replication elsewhere.
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In less than four years, reached 50 members representing more than 30% of the Australian population.
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Via Welcoming International, joined a growing network of more than 300 municipalities in eight countries: Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, using similar approaches.
- Photo Credits
- – Welcoming Australia
- Notes
- – 1 Statistics from Welcoming Australia and Id Community
- – 2 Statistics from Id Community, estimated average annual growth rate (2016-2041), the population for the City of Parramatta is forecast to increase by 253,285 persons (108.04% growth), at an average annual change of 2.97%
- – 3 Statistics from Welcoming Australia
- – 4 Statistics from Migration Council Australia (2016)
