Australia’s Story of Welcome
This profile highlights the early years of the Welcoming Cities initiative, run by Welcoming Australia. The events and activities described took place between 2015-2020.
Overview
Australia was the first country to partner with Welcoming America, and together they forged a path to establish Welcoming International. Welcoming Cities is an initiative of Welcoming Australia, supported by the Scanlon Foundation. They work on shifting attitudes towards newcomers at the organizational level, this includes supporting regional communities to better identify and understand the process of welcoming people to their communities.
Kaleidescope Initiative
The Kaleidoscope Initiative is led by the City of Stirling in Western Australia, and is designed to create partnerships between the local council, the local business community, and newcomer (migrant and refugee) communities. It identifies strategic opportunities for economic and community development, and encourages local businesses to understand, and engage with, the benefits of a culturally diverse workforce by employing newcomers.
The Kaleidoscope Mentoring Program, the second phase of the Kaleidoscope Initiative, is developed and delivered in partnership with the City of Canning and the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre. It matches newcomer job seekers to mentors who work in their industry. Over a three–month program (for a minimum of 24 hours), they work together through advisory meetings and job shadowing, and mentors also share their professional networks.
Interviews
Inspiring change: Reflections on welcoming newcomers into rural communities in Australia and the United States
Participants of the 2022 Rural Communities Welcoming Exchange at the Welcoming Interactive. From left to right: Ricardo Esqueda, Yazmin Molina, Kylie Lee, and Natalia Muszkat. Photo credit: Natalia MuszkatIn May 2022, thanks to support from the multinational Welcoming...
U.S., Australian participants selected for exchange program between rural communities
As part of Welcoming America’s continued work in fostering rural leadership in welcoming and inclusion, we are thrilled to announce the 16 participants selected for the forthcoming Rural Welcoming Communities Exchange program (RWCE): U.S. participants: Celeste Koppe...
Q&A with Sebastian Geers & Bel Schenk
An interview with the Manager and Coordinator (Victoria) of Welcoming Cities.
Additional resources
Stories of
Welcome
Guidelines for
Regional Growth
Steps to Settlement
Success
The Kaleidoscope
Initiative
Welcoming Cities
Resource Library