Holroyd City Council in New South Wales has developed a community education program that equips residents from culturally diverse backgrounds with knowledge about the local community and encourages them to become actively involved in civic life. The program, titled ‘Getting to know your local Council’, aims to help residents understand what Council does and how it works. In doing so, it improves communication between Council and the Community.
Ethnic Communities Development Officer, Lucy Maguire, said the population of Holroyd was 85,760 people, of which 36 per cent were born outside Australia.
“42 per cent of these people were born in a designated non English speaking country,” she said. Council holds two programs each year. Each program runs for two hours per week, over three weeks, and is delivered in English and various community languages. Accredited interpreters are used to translate the information.
Holroyd Mayor, Councillor John Brodie said the program is an example of best practice and is among the best offered nationally and internationally.
“It is a model of an outstanding program that meets the needs of a culturally diverse community and reflects Holroyd’s cultural heritage in its design and delivery,” he said.
Council has been running the ‘Getting to know your local Council’ program since 1992.
Topics covered during the sessions include:
- the three spheres of government
- Council meetings
- engineering services
- environmental and planning services
- corporate and financial services
- library, children’s and community services
- community buses and facilities.
Each participant is presented with a Certificate of Attendance on the last day of the program. Earlier this year ‘Getting to know your local Council’ won a Transformations Award at an international Transformations Conference held in February. This award recognises and promotes excellence in addressing cultural diversity by Local Governments.
For further information contact Lucy Maguire, on (02) 9840 9948.
