Ballarat has taken a major step towards becoming a more welcoming city following the adoption of six major plans, strategies and frameworks.
At Wednesday night's City of Ballarat October council meeting, Council voted to endorse and adopt the:
Inclusion Framework 2022-26
LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan 2022-26
Intercultural Strategic Plan 2022-26
Disability Access & Inclusion Plan 2022-26
Youth Strategy 2022-26
Ageing Well in Ballarat Strategy 2022-26 and the 2022-24 Action Plan
The initiatives were all presented as separate agenda items and were all approved unanimously.
The LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan, in particular, received immense public support in the council chamber with a packed gallery providing an extended round of applause when the motion was carried.
Speaking in the chamber about the LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan, and the inclusion framework more broadly, City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Daniel Moloney labelled it a momentous night for the Council.
"Every so often you get to do something that is actually really meaningful and steps the city forward in a giant way," he said.
"We are now a leader of inclusion and I'm really proud of my city.
"I want to thank all of my councillor colleagues who have continued to demonstrate their inclusive support.
"It is a team effort and this is really impressive seeing the cultural change that has been happening as an organisation and as a city.
"It's something that we, as Ballarat, should be incredibly proud of."
In April of this year, the City of Ballarat undertook a comprehensive community engagement project to inform Council's work in a range of inclusion areas.
The engagement process was two-phased and attempted to engage the general community and target the specific groups in the community who can face discrimination and exclusion.
From this feedback, a range of strategic plans and a new framework outlined how the City of Ballarat would work towards inclusion.
The plans, strategies and frameworks and strategies can all be seen below:
