The Intercultural Plan outlines how Council partners with multicultural communities to improve access to services, support participation in community life, and strengthen representation across Ballarat. It helps the City of Ballarat develop policies and actions that respect and value our cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity.

The Intercultural Plan has guided the City of Ballarat over the past four years. The plan now needs to be updated to reflect the needs and priorities of our changing and increasingly diverse community

We want to understand:

• What matters most to culturally diverse communities
• Barriers to inclusion, participation and access
• What Council is doing well
• Where Council could improve
• Priorities for the next four years

Your feedback will help shape the priorities and actions included in the next Intercultural Plan.

Your feedback will be reviewed alongside input from community organisations, multicultural groups, service providers, staff and other stakeholders.

The findings will help inform the development of the Intercultural Plan 2027–2031, which will be presented to Council for consideration.

Community engagement will run between the 15 June and 26 July. Following this a draft Intercultural Plan will be developed and is expected to be available for public feedback in October 2026. We will then review the feedback and a finalised Intercultural Plan 2027-2031 will be put up to Council for adoption in March 2027.

"I can access the services and programs I need easily"

Achievements

• Multilingual Access Menu on City of Ballarat website ensuring information can be translated into over 50 languages to give non-English speakers a more inclusive and accessible browsing experience.

• Intercultural Services Directory updated annually then made available to community and organisations across Ballarat

• 2000 copies of ‘ALL of US’ Calendar printed each year and distributed
• Facilitate and deliver Cultural Awareness/Intercultural Competence training to council staff.

"I can participate in public life"

Achievements

• Construction of the Intercultural Garden located at the corner of Sturt and Pleasant Street (adjacent to City Oval).
• Supported Intercultural Cities Australian National Network (ICANN)
• Support Council's Sister City relationship with Inagawa-cho in Japan.
• Support to Council's Friendship City Agreements with Ainaro in Timor-Leste, Kunshan Province in China, and Yangzhou in China.
• Collaborated with other services and agencies to support participation in intercultural activities such as arts, sport and recreation. This included collaborating with Creative Ballarat to promote the Arts Plinth program; working with Her Majesty's Theatre in the delivery of culturally significant performances by Chinese, Italian, and First Nations communities; and working with cultural sports groups to support tournaments and provide advice on access to City of Ballarat facilities.

• Provided updated diversity and multicultural data from the 2021 census to inform and assist City of Ballarat teams to develop place-based programs in: Libraries and Learning Hubs, Early Years, Youth and Families, Emergency Management, Community Development and Strategic Planning. External organisations including Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council were also updated on local diversity data.

"The City of Ballarat is recognised as a strong advocate for CALD communities"

Achievements

• Delivery of the successful Intercultural Ambassador program.
• Promotion of social, cultural education and training activities by local government areas and service agencies.
• Support to emerging communities with grant applications
• Collaboration with Women’s Health Grampians for the delivery of violence prevention workshops
• Co-design and deliver events and cultural celebrations spearheaded by CALD community leaders. Co-designed events included:

- Cultural Diversity Week/Harmony Fest

- Harmony in the Bridge

- Refugee Week

- World Interfaith Harmony Week Celebrations

"The City of Ballarat partners with the community to acknowledge and celebrate the various contributions of our CALD community"

Achievements

• Support the delivery of First Nation events on dates of significance.
• The following events were successfully delivered:

- Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Fest community initiatives with over 22 community events and 4000 participants annually

- Refugee Week with 6 events delivered annually

- Celebration of Ballarat diversity advantage through the Intercultural Recognition Awards

• National Day flag raising ceremonies for cultural groups.