Cultural diversity: Australian Local Government Association

Welcome to ALGA's cultural diversity policy and research area.

All levels of government are realising the social and economic benefits of a stable and cohesive community and the need to fully respond to all groups making up a democratic society. From settlement through to citizenship, local government welcomes, supports, embraces and celebrates the diverse experiences of all Australians.

As the level of government closest to communities, local government plays a fundamental role in facilitating the inclusion and participation of their residents. Working in partnership with community groups, service providers and residents, and state and federal agencies, local government plays an integral part in national and international efforts to understand and embrace cultural diversity.

Many of Australia's local government areas have large numbers of constituents from different cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. This has seen the development of considerable expertise in inclusive decision making and improved access to migrant settlement, multicultural and citizenship services. Councils often have their own local programs and staff dedicated to managing cultural diversity issues, be they related to access and equity considerations, healthcare, family support, learning skills, arts and community engagement activities.

The actual responsibilities of councils across Australia with respect to cultural diversity, vary across jurisdictions, and reflect differences under state and territory legislative and regulatory frameworks. State and territory local government associations deal with state and territory governments on state specific issues.

ALGA core role is to represent the interest of local government at the national level. ALGA is a federated organisation. Its members are the state local government associations, the Northern Territory Local Government Association and the ACT Government. ALGA works closely with the Australian Government to advance cultural diversity and represents local government concerns relating to citizenship, migration and settlement policy issues.

At the national level, the Ministerial Council on Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (MCIMA) was established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to allow consultation between the Commonwealth, State and territory governments on aspects of immigration, settlement, citizenship and multicultural affairs to enable them to discuss policies and develop appropriate strategies. The Chair of MCIMA is the Australian Immigration Minister and its members include the ministerial representatives from the various state and territory jurisdictions. The Australian Local Government Association, together with New Zealand and the Norfolk Island, is an observer member of the Ministerial Council.

MCIMA met last in Melbourne on the 16 July 2010. For the full Communique click here.

Whilst the full implications of the COAG Hawke Review into the future of ministerial councils remains unknown, ALGA will continue to work closely with the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship on the range of cultural diversity, immigration, settlement and citizenship initiatives relevant to local government and the diverse communities it represents. Further details of the work of the Department and its programs can be found at www.immi.gov.au.

Access and equity: ALGA is committed to improving access and equity in local government. All members of the community wishing to participate in a local community have a right to fair equitable, and open access to programs and services provided by local councils.
Statistics and case studies: The Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) provides a number of useful resources through their local government website for local governments responding to cultural diversity.
Strength in Diversity Award: The Strength in Diversity Award is the National award for local government for the category of community capacity building in the field of cultural diversity. It is one of the Australian Government's National awards for local government, the peak national awards that reward and highlight local councils' resourcefulness in finding better ways to deliver services and develop local solutions to complex and challenging problems. It recognises local initiatives that respond to, promote and/or harness benefits arising from migration, settlement, Australian citizenship, and our cultural, religious and linguistic diversity.
Transformations Conference 2005: In February 2005 ALGA co-convened the Transformations conference in conjunction with the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA), the Australian National University (ANU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA).

Australian Local Government Association

Cultural diversity

Resources