The City of Ballarat will fly the transgender flag for the first time on March 31 for International Transgender Day of Visibility in front of Town Hall.
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At Wednesday night's City of Ballarat council meeting, mayor Daniel Moloney confirmed council would approve flying the flag, in line with the community flag policy.
"I think it's going to be quite an important day for people that identify as transgender, and there has been a request come through from a couple of members of the community to recognise Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31," he said in the meeting.
"It's making sure a section of our community that does feel misrepresented, that doesn't feel recognised, can actually have a flag flown on a day of national recognition outside our Town Hall."
The decision was announced following a question to council from Jay Morrison, one of the Ballarat Frolic Festival's directors.
He said it was a "good first step" to support the trans and gender-diverse community, but more practical work was needed to help make Ballarat truly inclusive.
"The fact they will be, for the first time, flying the trans flag outside of Town Hall sends a really positive message to the community that they're valued, and they're supported by council," he said.
"There are so many things council can be doing in this space, and over a number of years, the community has been telling them about small practical steps that would be supportive of the community, and they haven't been listening.
"The community wants to keep council, and leadership across Ballarat, accountable for providing a safe and inclusive environment."
People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual make up almost 10 per cent of Ballarat's population, making the city the fifth-highest local government area in the state, according to 2017 statistics.
Mr Morrison said an LGBTQIA+ advisory committee should be council's next step, which will be addressed at the next council meeting.
"When I first moved here three years ago, I discovered there's a really strong community here, but it's always been a bit under the surface, probably because of Ballarat's history," he said.
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"Hopefully we'll see one of these committees established, because that'll actually mean the voices of the community will actually be heard."
Councillor Belinda Coates added she is "optimistic" the committee will help to build on council's work with the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly on "improvements to inclusion".
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