“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.

Read more here

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

As the Welcoming Universities network reaches 11 members across four states, we are also pleased to announce the official launch of the Welcoming Universities Standard, marking a significant milestone in its mission to foster inclusivity and belonging within the higher education sector. Alongside this achievement, Welcoming Universities proudly welcomes four new members over the last six months: the University of Wollongong, Bond University, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and Curtin University. 

The Welcoming Universities Standard represents a comprehensive framework designed to guide universities in creating welcoming, inclusive, and supportive campuses for all students and staff. It sets benchmarks and best practices across various aspects of university life, including admissions, curriculum, student support services, and community engagement. 

“We are thrilled to launch the Welcoming Universities Standard and to welcome our newest members,” said Welcoming Australia CEO Aleem Ali. “These universities have demonstrated a commitment to fostering a culture of inclusivity and belonging, and we are excited to collaborate with them to further enhance belonging in Australian universities.” 

Welcoming Universities now boasts a network of 11 member institutions committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. The collective efforts of these universities through the Welcoming Universities initiative are poised to make a lasting impact on the educational landscape, ensuring that every student and staff member feels valued and supported. On recently joining Welcoming Universities, Jo Tilly (Director, UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion) shared that.  

“UTS are proud to join Welcoming Universities! Joining with like-minded colleagues offers a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our efforts in enhancing cultural diversity and anti-racism in our campus community.” 

 
Dr Elaine Laforteza (Cultural Diversity Project Officer, UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion) added, “Consulting on the Welcoming Universities Standard has already proved very helpful for shaping our thinking for our Cultural Diversity and Anti-Racism Action Plan, which is currently under development.” 

In conjunction with the launch, Welcoming Universities also announces the inaugural Welcoming Universities Summit, scheduled for October 22 at the University of Technology Sydney. This summit will bring together the higher education sector to engage in meaningful discussions about creating welcoming environments, promoting diversity, and enhancing community engagement within universities. 

“The Welcoming Universities Summit will provide a platform for universities to share insights, strategies, and innovations in fostering inclusive campuses,” added Cate Gilpin. “We look forward to productive conversations that will drive positive change and promote a sense of belonging for all”, said Cate Gilpin, Coordinator of Welcoming Universities. 

For more information about Welcoming Universities, the Welcoming Universities Standard, or the upcoming Welcoming Universities Summit, please visit www.welcominguniversities.org.au.  

About Welcoming Universities: Welcoming Universities is a collaborative initiative promoting inclusivity and belonging in higher education. By setting standards and fostering collaboration among member institutions, Welcoming Universities aims to create supportive environments where all students and staff thrive. 

______________________________________ENDS________________________________________________________ 

For further comment or information contact: 

 
Kate Leaney 
Campaigns & Communications Manager 
Welcoming Australia 
kate@welcoming.org.au | 0411 712 930 

 
Aleem Ali 
CEO 
Welcoming Australia 
aleem@welcoming.org.au | 0400 917 756 

Australia’s international education sector stands at a critical crossroads, facing challenges that threaten its viability and integrity. Long celebrated as a cornerstone of economic growth and cultural diversity for the sector, international education now finds itself constrained by governmental policies, economic imperatives, and societal misconceptions.

In recent years, international education has burgeoned into Australia’s largest services export industry, contributing a staggering $48 billion annually. This sector not only cushions the national economy but also underwrites the research capacity of universities nationally. Yet, despite its economic importance, the sector faces systemic issues.

International students are critical for their economic contributions to universities, and to the wider economy, plus their workforce participation is needed to sustain key industries. Despite this, international students and international education, is regularly treated as a tap that can be turned on and off, creating a dynamic in which students feel at best unsupported and misunderstood, and at worst, marginalised and exploited.

The Australian government’s recent proposal to cap international student numbers has sparked widespread concern from the sector. Citing strain on housing and social services, policymakers aim to stabilise student inflows temporarily. But this short-sighted approach ignores the significance of international education to the sustainability of key aspects of Australia’s economy and to the viability of higher education in this country. This approach again seems to be based on the belief that international students can be turned off for a while and turned on again at some future point.

To safeguard the future of international education a multifaceted approach that transcends economic metrics is needed. First and foremost, international students must be valued beyond their financial contributions. Their voices should be integral to policy formulation, ensuring that their needs and experiences are central to decision-making processes, and that they are treated as more than a financial resource.

Moreover, universities and government bodies must collaborate to enhance support structures for international students. Clear pathways to employment and fair working conditions are essential to mitigate exploitation. Addressing discrimination and fostering inclusivity are equally critical steps toward building a supportive environment for all students, regardless of nationality.

The narrative surrounding international education must shift from mere economic benefit to encompass its profound cultural and diplomatic contributions. Emphasising cross-cultural learning and global citizenship will enrich the educational experience and bolster Australia’s reputation as a welcoming destination for students worldwide.

Moving forward, urgent action is needed from both the university sector and governmental bodies. Collaboration is key: universities must lead efforts to integrate international student perspectives into policy development. This entails not only amplifying their voices but also implementing inclusive practices that foster a sense of belonging within the broader community.

Furthermore, there is a pressing need to innovate in how international students are engaged and supported. Regional universities, often overlooked in favour of their metropolitan counterparts, can play a pivotal role by developing unique, community-driven initiatives that cater to diverse student needs.

The reality is that the future of Australia’s international education sector hinges on a paradigm shift—one that prioritizes inclusivity, support, and dialogue. By championing these principles, stakeholders can uphold the sector’s integrity while harnessing its full potential as a global leader in education and cultural exchange.

Cate Gilpin is the Welcoming Universities Coordinator at Welcoming Australia. Welcoming Universities is an initiative to inspire and support Australian universities to embed welcoming, inclusion and belonging for students, staff and community members from all backgrounds.

This article was originally published on the Koala, International Education News, here and is republished with permission.

I grew up thinking universities were magical places.

My mum was an academic and a hugely passionate one. Consequently, I spent most of my holidays, many evenings, and countless weekends perched beside her at her desk at the Queensland University of Technology Gardens Point campus.

Like any child of a shopkeeper or restauranteur, I spent holidays, weekends and evenings either helping in the family business or doing homework at the corner table. Our family business was academia.

My parents grew up in rural western Queensland, and are the first in their families to attend university. It was a slog for them to get there, and a slog for them to complete their degrees. But both did. They met each other during their years at the University of Queensland, and supported each other to complete their undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, so they could each go on to build solid careers.

They’ve been divorced for 20 years, so it’s not an idyllic romantic tale. But, it is a love story about university. University was the making of both of their lives. It let them dream bigger and opened doors. For my dad, it was his ticket off the land. For my mum, it was her everything.

My mum’s profound appreciation for the transformative impact that university education had on her life led her into academia. This also meant that in her work as an academic, she was deeply committed to helping others have the kind of transformational university experience she’d had.

During my early years and into young adulthood, I would’ve met close to 100 students and colleagues my mum championed and for whom university unequivocally changed their lives. Higher education pulled them out of difficult circumstances and gave them social mobility, cultural capital, diverse connections, and opportunities that wouldn’t have been available to them if they had not undertaken higher education.

This is why I thought universities were so magical. I saw first hand how life changing and truly transformative they could be.

I understood that accessing university was more challenging for some people. Still, I believed, for a long time, well into my university career, that once the barriers to access were removed, then the transformation could begin. I didn’t understand that for many people, opening the door to university is just the first barrier, and there are multiple other hurdles from there.

It won’t surprise you to learn that, to date, most of my career has been in universities. I worked for over 10 years in professional staff roles – positions focused on student support, international development, engagement, and events. I then into the academic space for several years as a casual research assistant and tutor.

Looking back now, I am deeply embarrassed at my naiveté and my blinkered, privileged perspective. I always existed in university culture, and tertiary study was just a given, natural next step in my life. I could live at home, work casually and study whatever I was interested in. For many of the early years of my career, even while working directly with students, I still knew very little about the complex, intersectional barriers people face in seeking the educational opportunities that were so readily available to me.

This doesn’t mean that studying at university was easy for me. It was just hard in the right way.

University is meant to be challenging. The content should stretch and provoke minds, expand knowledge, skills, and abilities. University often involves long hours, an annoying commute, and juggling study and work. But these are ‘normal’ challenges – the difficulty and complexity everyone faces when pursuing higher education.

This is not the inequity and systemic exclusion that equity groups – Indigenous Australians, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and people living with disabilities – face, that is intersectional inequity and systemic exclusion.

Universities are aware of inequity and exclusion. Most have substantial equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and committees. Many develop research on migration, social cohesion, economic participation, diversity, and inclusion. And most universities would argue that they exist for the public good.

However, students, staff, and communities from equity groups are not seeing changes from these policies, nor the beneficiaries of this research. They are still struggling to overcome barriers that go further than juggling a casual job and an annoying commute.

Paraphrasing Sally Patfield’s excellent article in The Conversation – access to higher education study is vital, the growing parity of equity groups numbers is ambitious, and developing policies and programs to connect with those equity groups is essential. Those connections might even open the door to a few more prospective students from underrepresented groups. Still, more policies and programs will have little to no impact on equity if the sector is not listening and responding to the needs of these cohorts. It’s time to take appropriate action to remove barriers, address inequity, and change the university system.

Welcoming Universities Coordinator Cate Gilpin

I will further discuss this at HEDx’s ‘Changing Higher Education for Good’ conference in Melbourne on Thursday, alongside my colleague, former University of Melbourne People of Colour Committee officer Mohamed Omer. We are appearing on a panel called ‘Accelerating in our pursuit of social justice and equity’ with several other excellent speakers, thinkers, and innovators who advocate for access and equity across different spaces.

Mohamed and I will speak on issues of systemic racism and exclusion that culturally diverse people (including international students) experience in university education; whether that be accessing uni, balancing studying or seeking post- study support and opportunities.

Former University of Melbourne People of Colour Committee officer Mohamed Omer. 

As universities and the broader higher education sector explore the recommendations of the inclusion-focused Australian Universities Accord, Welcoming Universities recommends that a culture of welcoming all students and cultivating a sense of belonging for disadvantaged cohorts is placed at the centre of all Accord reform efforts.

Welcoming opens the door, invites students in, and helps them overcome hurdles. Belonging is the next step. Belonging ensures that everyone “feels valued, connected and able to be their authentic self”¹.

Through extensive consultation with students and communities facing barriers to accessing, completing, and working in university education, the Welcoming Universities network offers actionable ideas, approaches, and measures of success that puts inclusion at the centre of universities.

My hope is that conversations like the one happening at HEDx next week, along with the work of Welcoming Universities, along with other equity work such as the disability-advocating Universities Enable initiative, will restore the magical possibility of universities I saw as a young person.

I truly believe that university and higher education can be even more transformative if people from all backgrounds and communities are welcomed and allowed to belong.

Cate Gilpin is the Coordinator of the Welcoming Universities initiative, a network to inspire and support Australian universities to develop a culture and practice of welcome, inclusion and belonging within their institutions, in the community, and across the higher education sector.

This piece was currently published on Campus Review here and is republished with permission.

Having read the Australian Universities Accord from cover to cover and after reviewing some of the extensive commentary and analysis, our conclusion at Welcoming Universities is that there is much to commend, much that aligns with the work of Welcoming Universities and opportunities to deepen and extend the goals and intent.

We agree with the general assessment that the Accord is a ‘bold and visionary’ document that strives for a better Australia through education. The Accord also views higher education as part of the broader education system, understanding that educational inequity begins early and that there must be high-quality early childhood, primary and secondary education to improve higher educational attainment. Amid recognition of the value of free kindergarten and discussions of public schools being fully funded (to the Gonski recommended SRS level), it is pertinent to consider the current higher education landscape and how it should be reformed for the future.

The reference in the Accord to a ‘whole of student’ focus in higher education is significant “as opposed to simply enrolling disadvantaged students into a course and hoping they succeed” (page 2, Australian Universities Accord, final report). Needs-based funding is essential to ensure that students from equity groups under-represented in higher education receive the support they need. We encourage the federal government to prioritise this funding.

The Universities Accord is also commendable, albeit long overdue, in its mission to prioritise First Nations at the heart of Australia’s tertiary education system, recognising the invaluable role of First Nations led approaches and knowledge. The array of action-based recommendations, including establishing a First Nations Council to advise Ministers and the proposed Australian Tertiary Education Commission, underscores the commitment to enhancing First Nations participation and workforce inclusion. Moreover, initiatives like promoting access for First Nations students to fields such as medicine and expanding opportunities for PhD and postdoctoral studies demonstrate a concerted ePort to empower First Nations students in higher education.

Deeply aligned with our work at Welcoming Universities is the commitment to research the prevalence and impact of racism in the tertiary education system. We regard this as foundational to creating a university system that is safe and inclusive for all students, staP, and communities.

Several other commendable equity measures are noted in the Accord: paid placements, fee-free preparatory courses, various supports to extend opportunities in regional and remote areas, and building stronger connections between the VET, TAFE, and University sectors.

The Accord also outlines the layered experience of intersectional disadvantage, which aFects students who identify with multiple equity groups or barriers to university access and completion. However, the current definitions of equity groups are too limited for a ‘whole of student’ approach. Many student experiences are not considered in this framework. For universities to realise the target of 80% of working-age people with university attainment by 2050, more inclusive definitions must be considered, such as students who are the first in their families to attend university, carers, mature-aged students, students who experience cultural and racial marginalisation, students from refugee backgrounds, students who identify as LGBTQIA+, and students who are veterans.

The Accord recognises that the types of universities in Australia are currently very similar in size, study- area offering, delivery models, and business model. The Accord proposes, and we agree, that by diversifying

the type of tertiary education providers by size, shape, purpose, location, and focus, there will be more universities that meet the diverse needs of students and fewer barriers to access.

International education is also explored in the Accord, with some crucial insights. The Accord recognises that international education is part of the culture of the Australian higher education system and a fixture of the Australian economy. It also recognises that there have been failures in quality, a pressing need to diversify ‘markets’, and a need to ensure international students have access to safety, security, housing, and a positive educational experience studying in Australia. While positive, the term ‘markets’ entrenches international students in a business model and primarily positions them as a source of income. ‘Cohorts’ is a preferable term.

We also consider that international students are absent from the ‘whole of student’ focus in the Accord.

International students are not included in equity group numbers. Therefore, there is no nuanced consideration of international students’ support needs in calculating the university support structures required for equity groups. This also means there is no consideration of the requirement for culturally responsive and culturally safe support services for international student cohorts.

If international education is to remain viable in Australia, international students must be viewed as more than a market and recognised as critical to Australian education for diverse reasons. While there are references in the Accord to the role of international education being part of soft diplomacy and key for international linkages, the broader tertiary approach to international education must be more connected, compassionate, and inclusive. Similarly, while recognising that some international students are seeking a migration pathway, this needs to be connected and aligned with the Federal Government’s migration strategy.

International students, staF, and communities within Australian universities should be part of an internationalisation strategy that constructively and intentionally builds global connections.

Training and professional development are referenced in the Accord, ensuring that staP are highly skilled, supply quality education and that early career researchers are supported and grown (including a focus on the professional development of particular equity groups). In addition, we believe the report should have examined the experiences of all higher education staP, responded to the precarity experienced by higher education professionals and casual academics, and explored ways to build a robust, supported workforce that we regard as foundational to the sector’s viability. The Accord references the casualisation of the higher education workforce and the prevalence of temporary contracts. However, it asserts that these workforce arrangements are primarily considerations for institutions and their staP.

Welcoming Universities regard staF diversity as essential; they should reflect the populations they serve and include diverse perspectives and knowledge. We believe that surveying and examining experiences of racism within universities will reveal what smaller studies and anecdotal discussions have shown, that systemic cultural change is essential.

Broader employment data shows there needs to be more cultural diversity in leadership in Australia. “The data shows that although people from non-European and Indigenous backgrounds make up an estimated 24% of the population, such backgrounds only account for 5% of senior leaders” (2018, Australian Human Rights Commission). A desktop analysis of senior leadership in Australian universities certainly reflects this.

This article by Sally Patfield on The Conversation summarises our reflections on equity in the Accord. Patfield acknowledges equity, as defined in the Accord, refers to parity of access to university, but with some understanding that supports are needed to ensure that students from designated equity groups will require assistance to pursue university education and ongoing support to complete their qualification, and then to move into more significant opportunities post-study without debilitating debt.

Parity does not remove inequity. It does not look at the experience that students (and staP) have in the university environment. While building aspiration is critical to more comprehensive higher education access and attainment, aspiration doesn’t remove the systemic barriers of exclusion people experience.

Patfield notes, “Equity is much more than physical presence or getting bums on seats. We must also consider what students are accessing, how they are supported, and how universities ultimately value and include them.”

Equity requires that universities become places of belonging. The Welcoming Universities network and Standard offer actionable ideas, approaches, and measures of success.

Creating places where everyone feels a sense of belonging requires systemic and practical change. Welcoming Universities exist to meet this challenge and to put many of these bold and visionary ideas into action with haste.