Update: 9 October 2023

We are now considering feedback. Thank you to all those who shared their views during engagement.

Council is committed to facilitating the development of our municipality as an ‘intercultural city’ that promotes inclusivity and diversity. Interculturalism is more than people, culture, beliefs, and faiths - it is the very way we connect, share and grow together.

The draft document, now available for feedback, aims to empower our community and promote learning, dialogue and relationships between cultures.

Because culture exists in all of us, it's important we hear from the many diverse members of our community to help finalise the Strategy. This feedback will help create a long-term roadmap for Maribyrnong’s culturally rich future.

The draft Strategy identifies three key themes including:

• Intercultural capacity and capability
• Active participation and citizenship
• Partnerships, advocacy and collaborations.

There are eleven objectives that fall under these themes. The draft Strategy is supported by an action plan that details eight proposed actions to achieve some of the objectives within the first year. These can be viewed by downloading the draft Strategy in the document library.

We're keen to hear your thoughts on the proposed actions and your ideas to bring them to life. You can get involved by:

• Attending an in-person event listed on the right-hand side of this page
• Completing the survey below
• Sharing ideas on bringing the draft Strategy to life through the interactive tools on this page.

Please share any comments before midnight Sunday 8 October 2023.

Maribyrnong prides itself on being one of the most diverse communities in Victoria - 60% of residents who responded to a survey in 2018 believed it makes life better.

Maribyrnong has also long been recognised as a multicultural city - one with multiple nationalities, languages, and beliefs. Building on this, our vision for an intercultural city is one that also has the tools to:

• manage diversity and cultural conflict
• recognise and reconcile with First Peoples
• promote greater interaction between community groups.

In intercultural cities, most citizens regard diversity as a resource and accept all cultures change as they encounter each other in the public arena. See what our community values about cultural diversity in the video at the top of this page.

In the Council Plan 2017-2021, Council committed to facilitating the development of our municipality as an ‘intercultural city’ that promotes inclusivity and diversity.

In late 2018, Council signed up for a three-year membership to the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Programme - one of 145 cities to become members. Other Australian members of the network included the City of Ballarat and the City of Melton.

Under the programme, member cities are tasked with setting up an intercultural support group to review their urban policies from an intercultural perspective and to integrate them into a comprehensive strategy.

Building on Council's membership through the Intercultural Cities Programme between 2018-2022, Council is continuing to deliver on its commitment to diversity and inclusion by developing an Intercultural Maribyrnong Strategy - the first for our municipality.

As part of this journey, in 2019, Council also teamed up with Ballarat and Melton city councils to host the Intercultural Cities Australasia Summit resulting in the 'Taking it to the Streets' event.

In 2017, Council shifted its focus from multiculturalism to interculturalism to begin work on its first intercultural strategy. Feedback was sought from a Think Tank Round Table event attended by 50 people, and an online survey on Your City Your Voice.

In 2020, we hosted a series of stakeholder workshops, which included internal staff meetings and online stakeholder workshops, attended by around 50 people.

The focus of this engagement was on understanding early aspirations for an intercultural city, how Council could achieve this, and to help review themes to support the development of the draft Strategy.

We're now sharing the document with the wider community for their input.