Harmony Day is the United Nations' international day for the elimination of racial discrimination and the central focus for the city's 12^th Harmony Fest.

Intercultural ambassador Sarabjit Kaur was a guest speaker at the event and talked about the need for more diversity in media to better represent the real Australia.

"It is about including more diverse voices and faces in the media, voices on the radio, faces on the television and representation on billboards. All of that has to also reflect the reality of interculturalism, which is not just Ballarat but also all of Australia, since Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world," she said.

Ms Kaur said events like the flag raising and Harmony Fest were important to spreading the message of interculturalism in Ballarat.

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"The celebration, to some extent, might be tokenistic but also very important in terms of giving out the message that interculturalism is celebrated, welcomed, acknowledged and cherished here in Ballarat," she said.

"That's a big message that goes out through the festival and the flag raising today had people from several cultural backgrounds attend and share their ideas during the tea. All of that goes a long way."

Ms Kaur said while Ballarat was a very multicultural city, there was still room to improve.

"We are leading the way, but it's definitely not at a point where people from diverse backgrounds are sitting back and saying this is perfect, because there are definitely episodes of microaggressions happening in people's workplaces or public places which are so subtle that it's not as easy to call them out and that happens every single day.

"But in terms of the big picture, we have grown leaps and bounds, we've taken big leaps forward in that respect.

"I think the fact that Ballarat is an intercultural city definitely has to be celebrated but is definitely not something to be complacent about."

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