Welcoming Week 2024

The 2024 Welcoming Week theme, #WhatBringsUsTogether, is a moment to consider and celebrate the work of advancing a welcoming Australia that happens in communities across the country every single day.

In a time of escalating global uncertainty and division, we believe it’s crucial to intentionally carve out moments to share “What Brings Us Together”.

This September, community members all over Australia embraced the Welcoming Week theme of #WhatBringsUsTogether, celebrating the work of advancing a welcoming Australia. We joined eight countries taking part, with an amazing 2,006 events hosted globally!

Unsurprisingly, the opportunity to share food together brings communities together year after year! Whether it was a long lunch hosted by the City of Melville and the City of Cockburn, a community lunch with the City of Playford, a community BBQ with Ararat Rural City Council and cookbooks produced by Gladstone Regional Council and the City of Armadale, Welcoming Cities members truly explored the Welcoming Week theme of #WhatBringsUsTogether.

Welcoming Week also saw Mt Isa celebrate new citizens and the City of Canning and the City of Stirling co-hosting events with Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia to raise awareness of community refugee sponsorship and the vital role it plays in the settlement of refugee newcomers.

Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia headed over to Perth to host a number of community events and celebrations as part of Welcoming Week 2024, speaking to communities about welcoming refugees into their local neighbourhoods through the CRISP program.

Art also played a key role in celebrating #WhatBringsUsTogether, with the City of Mandurah hosting the World Music Café, Lake Macquarie City Council’s LivingSmart Festival showcasing local performers and artists alongside market stalls and workshops and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield hosting Welcome Fest, bringing together artists, performers, stall holders and community to celebrate the joy of welcoming. 

In South Australia, Circle of Friends showed up in style throughout the week, hosting Afghan feasts, art exhibitions and even a clothes swap to celebrate Welcoming Week and raise funds for their important work supporting refugee communities calling Australia home.

And so much more – this is just a snapshot of conversations, celebrations and commitments to advancing a welcoming Australia where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive.

Welcoming Week is about more than the events and connections during this week alone. It’s a time to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including migrants, refugees, people seeking asylum, international students, and the entire community, as well as the work that happens in your communities every single day.

We can’t wait to celebrate Welcoming Week together again next year, so mark your calendars for September 12-21, 2025! 

Check out the Welcoming Week events happening near you + add your own event to the calendar!

Ready to Use Social Media Tiles

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Welcoming Signs

• PDF and JPG of Welcoming Signs in different languages

Logos

• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish

Social Media Templates

• Welcoming Week templates will be shared later in 2025

Hosting an event? Check out our handy resources here:

• Community Hubs Resource and Case Studies
• Libraries Resource
• Welcoming Week Info Sheet

Anyone can participate in Welcoming Week!

Some key actions partners, members, organisations, and individuals can take each year to advance welcoming, inclusive communities include:

• Submit a video to be part of the official 2025 Welcoming Week video – details to follow
• Host an online or in-person event during Welcoming Week, for example:
  • Food festival featuring diverse cuisines
  • Explore the native ingredients in your area, led by a local Elder
  • Organise a welcoming mural – chalk, paint, otherwise!
  • Community BBQ or picnic
  • Festival or gathering showcasing the diverse musical talent of your community
  • Movie screening
  • Sports day
  • Crafts events
  • Community info session
  • Multicultural Quiz
• Attend an event near you
• On social media, share welcoming actions your community is taking
• Issue a Welcoming Week Proclamation or Resolution

For more information and ideas, please check out this toolkit

About Welcoming Week

Welcoming Week is an annual campaign and celebration to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including migrants. Launched in 2012 by Welcoming America and its members in the United States, Welcoming Week is now a global movement that brings communities and neighbours of all backgrounds together to build strong connections and affirm the importance of inclusive places.

Core Messages

• Celebrated by thousands in communities around the globe, Welcoming Week is an annual campaign that connects neighbours of all backgrounds through community-led activities and events.
• Welcoming Week is an actionable, holistic campaign that provides individuals and communities the opportunity to publicly proclaim welcoming values, foster a mutual understanding between First Nations, refugees, migrants, people seeking safety, settlers and everyone calling their community home, and build a deeper sense of belonging for all.
• More people than ever are on the move, displaced by climate and conflict and seeking opportunity and mobility. As this migration reshapes communities, many places are unprepared and underinvested in the work needed to create welcoming infrastructure – and they’re unsure of where to start. Welcoming Week invites communities to take the first step toward creating an environment where everyone can truly belong, contribute and thrive. Welcoming Week is a time when a chorus of thousands—in communities large and small, rural and urban—celebrate the benefits of an inclusive and welcoming society and deepen their commitment to creating places where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive.
• Welcoming Week is about more than the events and connections during this week alone. It’s a time to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including migrants, refugees, people seeking asylum, international students, and the entire community, as well as the work that happens in your communities every single day.