In the wake of a recent spate of antisemitic attacks across Sydney, Inner West Council has released an Anti-Racism Strategy – believed to be the first local government in NSW to do so.
The Council says the strategy provides a blueprint for how local government can act at the grassroots level to stop the spread of racial prejudice and to build social cohesion.
The strategy was released ahead of today’s Sydney mayoral roundtable on social cohesion, which was jointly hosted by Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne, along with the mayors of Waverley and Liverpool.
Mayor Byrne said councils have a crucial role to play in combating racism and building respectful relationships between all ethnic and religious communities.
“We live in one of the world’s greatest multicultural democracies but across Sydney we are seeing that cohesion fraying and breaking apart,” he said.
“Councils have a vital role in bringing diverse communities together, building links between people of different backgrounds, and taking a stand against racism in all its forms.”
Key actions in the Inner West Anti-Racism Strategy include:
- – Providing funding and support for projects, programs and capacity building at the community level. The Cultural Connections Program will allocate $50,000 annually in grants to ethic community organisations to build and strengthen connections with the wider community.
- – Council will complete the installation of 3 Indigenous Survival Memorials across the Inner West to tell the heroic story of survival of First Nations people. The first at Yeo Park in Ashfield was opened in 2024.
- – Investing $120,000 over the next two years to develop and pilot a customised Anti-Racism Training Program in partnership with Western Sydney University. This will train hundreds of local residents and Council staff so they have practical skills and tools to confidently identify and respond to racist behaviours as a bystander.
- – Using the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for ongoing communications campaigns to the whole community to combat specific racist beliefs and behaviours to make Harmony Day more effective and meaningful.
- – Employment measures to support greater economic participation for people from diverse backgrounds or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including in recruitment and professional development of Council staff and new apprenticeships.
“Our new Inner West Anti-Racism Strategy is a practical plan for how we will combat prejudice and promote respect and cooperation in our own backyard,” said Mayor Byrne.
“The Inner West is the birthplace of Australian multiculturalism so to see the increase in antisemitic vandalism and attacks in our community in recent months has been shocking.
“We know that there has been a marked increase in other forms of racism in recent years in our neighbourhoods too.
“Vilification of Indigenous people throughout the recent Referendum campaign, the suborn presence of Islamophobia and attacks on Chinese Australians in the COVID period have all impacted on our community.”
“We know that advocacy, training and education at the grassroots level is one of the most effective ways to overcome and eliminate all these forms of discrimination.”
The complete Inner West Anti-Racism Strategy can be found here: Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2026.
