South Australia’s City of Salisbury is one of just eight councils in Australia to receive a major honour at the National Awards for Local Government this week, taking home the Cohesive Communities Award.
The award recognises high achievement in community cohesion and inclusion, Council said in a statement today.
Two of Salisbury’s strategic plans: Intercultural Strategic Plan 2017-2027 (ISP) and Ability Inclusion Strategic Plan 2020-2024 (AISP) were nominated for the award as ‘Cohesive Salisbury’. These strategies provide the framework for building cultural and disability inclusion in Salisbury.
The City of Salisbury is a member of Welcoming Cities Australia, A Refugee Welcome Zone, and recently became a member of the Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Network; the first and only City in SA to join the network of 150 cities worldwide.
As a leader in disability inclusion in the local government sector, the City of Salisbury has had a dedicated inclusion project officer and disability inclusion strategy for more than 25 years, notably before disability access and inclusion plans became legislatively required by councils in 2020.
Mayor Gillian Aldridge OAM (pictured) said the award was a huge achievement for the City of Salisbury who had always strived to overcome barriers and create a connected community.
“Interculturalism goes beyond multiculturalism, it’s about bringing together individual cultural backgrounds, growing connectedness, and making everyone feel at home in Salisbury,” said Mayor Aldridge.
People were invited to help support Salisbury’s nomination and ‘Vote 4 Salisbury’ as part of the award selection, which was based on a people’s choice rating and a judging panel.
Some of the key outcomes from the strategies include hosting South Australia’s largest interfaith blessing, establishing advisory bodies of community and sector leaders to influence council decisions and providing a rich calendar of cultural events.
“More than 37% of people in Salisbury were born overseas and we have the second-highest score in Australia for how intercultural our City is.”
“People come from far and wide, sometimes escaping conflict and searching for the freedom and liberties we usually take for granted, and it makes me immensely proud to be the Mayor and see this patchwork of cultures come together to create our beautiful City,” the Mayor said.
