Support for multiculturalism

Identity and belonging

Support for multiculturalism

Canberra is a welcoming and vibrant city, shaped by the cultural diversity of those who live here.

Culturally inclusive city

This measure examines how confident people feel that there is community acceptance of people from different cultures.

Feeling like you belong and can participate in the community is important for our wellbeing.

In 2024, 76.0% of Canberrans felt that Canberra is a culturally inclusive city. This is the lowest level measured between 2019 and 2024.

People less likely than average to consider Canberra a culturally inclusive city included:

Data for this indicator are sourced from the University of Canberra Living well in the ACT Region survey. Detailed survey data, survey user guide and published reports from the survey can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.

Line graph of percentage of respondents’ consideration of whether there is community acceptance of people from different cultures in the ACT, between 2019 and 2024.

In 2024:

  • 76.0% agreed that Canberra is a culturally inclusive city compared to 81.8% in 2023
  • 14.0% neither agreed nor disagreed about Canberra being an inclusive city compared to 10.9% in 2023
  • 10.0% disagreed that Canberra is an inclusive city compared to 7.3% in 2023.

The Living Well in the ACT Region survey, conducted by the University of Canberra, aims to measure, track and understand the wellbeing and resilience of adult residents living in the Australian Capital Territory region of Australia. It examines factors known to affect wellbeing and resilience at the individual, household, community and regional level.

When generating data for the ACT, statistical weighting is used to address differences between the sample of people who respond to the survey, and the characteristics of the ACT adult population.

Data are produced from this survey for different groups of people in the ACT. The ‘overall response’ category represents responses at the ACT population level. Where reliable estimates can be produced, data are also presented for Canberrans by: gender, age, cultural background, gender identity and sexuality, carer role and experience of disability. Not all differences over time or between groups are statistically significant: information on confidence intervals for the data presented here is available in data tables that can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.

Care is needed when interpreting the differences in findings between groups as the descriptive statistics published here show where there are differences in wellbeing, but not what has caused those differences in wellbeing.

Further information about the survey can be found at Living Well in the ACT Region or by contacting regionalwellbeing@canberra.edu.au.