Ballarat City Council will consider taking part in an initiative that welcomes the challenges and opportunities of migration as part of its agenda for this week’s council meeting.
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Welcoming Cities describes itself as “a national network of inclusive, vibrant communities internationally recognised for their ability to foster a sense of belonging and participation.”
The project is an initiative of the Scanlon Foundation, in conjunction with Welcome to Australia and in partnership with Welcoming America. The foundation was established in 2001 by businessman Peter Scanlon to promote cultural diversity and social cohesion.
The foundation is reaching out to organisations and local governments to get onboard and share research practice and ideas... It really just makes sense for us to sign on.
- Belinda Coates
The network aims to connect communities across Australia and provide a digital platform for local government leaders to work together to bring about greater social cohesion as more traditional aspects of community unity have begun to fade and disappear.
It also aims to redress population decline in smaller townships.
As part of the recommendation to take part in the network, council says that migration has had a net benefit to Ballarat in the past three years, with 253 jobs and over $20 million in value-added income created.
Deputy Mayor Belinda Coates says it makes sense for the council to sign onto the initiative, as Ballarat has already committed to being a Welcome Refugee zone.
“It also fits really well with our Destination Ballarat work we are doing in collaboration with other organisations like the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council, the Centre for Multicultural Youth, the Committee for Ballarat, UnitingCare, who are working on promoting and raising the profile of Ballarat as a national destination for migration,” she says.
“We know there’s an economic benefit in terms of job creation to the country broadly. It’s another way to share ideas nationally.”