"Canberra should be promoted as a multicultural community. We need to be one as a community against racism.”
With nearly 1 in 4 Canberrans speaking a language other than English at home , Canberra is a proud multicultural city. We have a range of diverse communities and Australia’s largest celebration of multiculturalism, the National Multicultural Festival.
The Living Well in the ACT Region survey (2020) showed that Canberrans whose main language spoken at home is not English may:
- have lower than average heatwave resilience and mental health,
- have experienced discrimination, or
- be underemployed.
In 2020, they were also more likely than average to report loss of income and were less likely to find it easy to stay in touch with friends and family.
The ACT government supports multicultural communities by building an inclusive and harmonious Canberra: a city that celebrates and respects cultural diversity.
The ACT Multicultural Framework 2015-2020 key principles are:
- accessible and responsive services,
- citizenship, participation, and social cohesion, and
- capitalising on the benefits of our cultural diversity.
This framework has annual reporting for progress. The Second Action Plan sets out four priority actions:
- benchmark Canberra against the Welcoming Cities Standard,
- develop a Welcome to Canberra Information Pack,
- create a digital hub for information on multicultural services and programs, and
- measure and report on the impact of services and programs.
The ACT Government is working with Canberrans to develop a Multicultural Recognition Act in 2021. This will establish a Multicultural Charter and legislate the Multicultural Advisory Council. It will also provide ways for the ACT government to report back to the community.
The ACT is also a member of the Welcoming Cities network. This network of towns across Australia aim for everyone to belong and take part in social, cultural, economic, and civic life. The Welcoming Cities network helps to identify ways we can improve as an inclusive community.
