I recently listened to an interview with Irish poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama, who has experienced, navigated and sought a way through conflict towards peace in fractured communities. In that conversation, Pádraig states:
“Peace involves staying in the room with people where you’d much rather walk out. Peace involves saying things to people that you usually say about them when they’re not there. Peace involves taking the risk of opening your imagination to think of a shared future where you and your political other share in a democratic process together. It feels like compromise, and it’s painful, and often you’re hurt by your own, not just ‘the other’. Peace and reconciliation are exhausting and brilliant and changing, but they require a lot of work.”
Pádraig talks about the possibility of relationship while recognising that it can take as long for a conflict to de-escalate as it takes to escalate. He observes that after more than 200 years of dispossession for First Peoples, ‘sorry’ (justice and truth) might require another 200 years, not just a day, week or year. It’s a sobering thought, especially given the year 2024 has been and we continue to witness.
It has also given me pause to consider the role of Welcoming Australia in an increasingly polarised world. Our work has never been more important, but cohesion and belonging should not be reduced to ‘being polite’ or maintaining the status quo. They require an ongoing commitment to a shared future and a lot of work.
Amid the grief of diaspora communities, the pursuit of certainty for people living in limbo, and advocacy for more inclusive government policy, there have been many vital conversations, the development of life-saving resources, beautiful moments, and inspiring stories. This is the work. A daily resolve to include rather than exclude, to take people on a journey and support people of all backgrounds to have a seat at the table.
We’ve shared a small snapshot of some of these activities below. I hope you enjoy them because you share in their success.
Thank you for your support in 2024 and for all you do to make your street, workplace, and community more welcoming, kind, and generous.
On behalf of the Welcoming Australia team, I wish you a safe, refreshing, and peaceful festive season. We will return in 2025 to continue the work of advancing communities where everyone can belong.
Aleem Ali
CEO, Welcoming Australia
The inaugural Welcoming Universities Summit, held on October 22, 2024, at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), brought together 50 key stakeholders to discuss inclusive practices in higher education. The theme for this inaugural summit was From Small Beginnings – building welcoming in Australian universities, and the program featured insightful talks, panel discussions, and roundtable sessions designed to foster meaningful conversations and explore initiatives to support diversity and inclusion in Australian universities.
A Welcoming Week to remember!
In September, community members all over Australia embraced the Welcoming Week theme of #WhatBringsUsTogether, celebrating the work of advancing a welcoming Australia.
With over 70 events hosted across Australia, we joined eight countries taking part, with an amazing 2,006 events hosted globally! 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.
Read the full 2024 wrap-up here.
The City of Darebin was awarded the first Excelling Accreditation in the Welcoming Cities network. This successful accreditation acknowledges the significant work of Council and the Darebin community to make the City more welcoming and inclusive.
“Darebin has a long-term approach to this work. They understand that welcoming and inclusion are about continuous engagement and learning, and we congratulate them on their success. Becoming the first council in Australia to be accredited at the Excelling level underlines their role as a leader in welcoming work in Australia.”
Read more here
2024 was a terrific year for Welcoming Cities
We were joined in the network by 10 new members, continued to connect with our international partners, including setting up peer to peer connections, released two publications, celebrated the City of Darebin achieving Accreditation at the Excelling level and there is strong interest in accreditation in 2025.
Read the full re-cap here
Inclusion Guidelines for Public Aquatic Facilities
These guidelines were developed by Welcoming Australia and The Aqua English Project Ltd, with input from local governments, contractors, aquatic participants and those yet to access a swimming program.
While developed for aquatic facilities, it’s also a blueprint for broader inclusion in our communities – we encourage you to download the guide, share it, examine how you can implement the ideas, strategies and examples shared within.
Genuine change requires work, investment and the right intent. Facilities won’t become more inclusive and welcoming overnight, but it will happen through small increments and culture shifts. Read more and download the guidelines here
A fantastic way to celebrate Welcoming Week 2024, we hosted an incredible event with the award-winning Bloodlines to Country podcast, produced by Jenae Tien and Karina Hogan, featuring Yuggera Elder, Aunty Kerry Charlton.
In this in-conversation event Aunty Kerry, Karina and Jenae shared the background to making this podcast, more details about the incredible stories it contains, and the impact this podcast has had on both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
It was a beautiful event, and the generosity of Aunty Kerry her family’s stories and history, was deeply profound.
Early in 2024 our Welcoming Cities team in Queensland began working with the newly formed Darling Downs African Communities Council (DDACC), providing support and solidarity as they built their profile and their vision for what the council would focus on.
Together, DDACC, Ethnic Communities Council Queensland (ECCQ) and Welcoming Australia are now co-hosting a conversation series about racism in schools. The first of these sessions was held in mid-November and began with a presentation by John Bosco of ECCQ on his recent research on this topic, and then a panel discussion with key people working in this space. It was an excellent introductory session, and the first in a conversation series that will continue through 2025, engaging more widely to collaboratively develop effective responses to this issue.
The Mayoral Alliance for the Pacific was a huge milestone in bringing together 20 Local Government Areas concerned about reforms in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. Of note too are the other valuable relationships established with the NSW Office of the Antislavery Commissioner; alongside consultations the Alliance has had with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. Our Advocacy efforts are envisaged to grow into 2025, particularly working across respective Departments administering PALM, with the objective of deriving wins for the workers, host communities and businesses.
Pictured: Welcoming Workplaces Manager Ken Dachi and Campaigns and Communications Manager Kate Leaney with Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Hon Pat Conroy MP
Find out more about the Mayoral Alliance for the Pacific here
We’re delighted to work with the newly formed Welcoming Universities Student Advisory Committee, recognising that a key critical element of advancing welcoming univerisities is a supported, and championed student voice.
To acknowledge the depth of lived and living experience and expertise, elected students for the committee receive a small yearly stipend to compensate them for time spent on their committee duties, and are also invited to engage a mentor from across the Welcoming Australia network to provide mentoring and advice in their career and life pursuits.
The committee is still very new, but the experience so far has been hugely positive, with students sharing incredible insights and knowledge with Welcoming Universities to ensure that the initiative is reflective of student voice, and students benefitting from being included in wide-ranging conversations and programs.
This year marked another adventurous, challenging, and rewarding chapter for the Welcoming Clubs team. Initially, we anticipated the conclusion of both the Welcome to the Game and Active Inclusion Club Mentor Projects in Melbourne, but due to its success and community value, the team has been successful in securing crucial funding to continue this important program with more programs and education workshops in 2025.
Alongside an exciting reactivation of Welcoming Clubs work and impact in Queensland this year, we’re also looking forward to launching two place-based, community-led programs as part of the Play Our Way program to promote equitable opportunities for women and girls to benefit from sport at all levels and locations.
Read the full Welcoming Clubs 2024 wrap-up here
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