Welcoming and inclusive communities

Multicultural Affairs Queensland is committed to promoting communities that are welcoming and inclusive of all who live in them.

As part of promoting inclusive and harmonious communities under the priorities of the Queensland Multicultural Policy, the department engaged Welcoming Cities and Welcoming Clubs to explore leading practice in supporting local governments and sports clubs to create welcome and plan for new arrivals in regional areas.

Welcoming Cities' work recognises that of all tiers of government, councils are best placed to understand the complexity and diversity of their communities.

Welcoming Cities, in partnership with the Migration and Inclusion Centre at Monash University, has developed the Planning for Welcoming and Inclusive Communities: Guidelines for Regional Growth. The Guidelines, funded by the Queensland Government, offer a practical resource for regional councils and their communities.

Designed to assist regional areas to attract, retain and support new arrivals into local communities, the Guidelines will continue to evolve and improve to meet local needs.

Welcoming Clubs is an active network of community sports clubs that are supported to embrace diversity and advance a sense of belonging for their members. The Welcoming Clubs standard provides a framework to provide welcome for clubs and is supplemented by an online hub, a benchmarking and diversity and inclusion planning tool, active inclusion workshops and bystander training.

How to get involved

Visit the Welcoming Cities website to learn more on how your region can benefit from this initiative.

View the list of Queensland Council members to the Welcoming Cities network.

Visit the Welcoming Clubs website to learn more on how your region can benefit this initiative.