Amenities, services and spaces that are accessible for people of all ages and backgrounds.
What you told us
You told us that you would like the neighbourhood to become more inclusive for families and people of all ages, abilities and identities.
“There aren't any good school options in or near East Melbourne, so most families move out of the area once kids are old enough to go to primary/secondary school. The childcare/kindergarten here is great and should be supported.”
“Make it more inclusive - better access for people living with disabilities and also more inclusive for gender diverse people (more welcoming)."
“Improve disability access on footpaths and streets.”
What we’re doing
Our Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-24 outlines how we work to reduce and eliminate barriers, to further help people with a disability who live, work, visit and study in our city.
The Accessing Melbourne page provides information on where to find accessible facilities, amenities and services in the City of Melbourne.
We provide a broad range of health and support services, programs and resources to assist the community including children and their families, young people, older people, Aboriginal communities, LGBTIQ communities.
Our Inclusive Melbourne Strategy increases access to opportunities for all people and outlines how we will respond to the diversity of religions, cultures, age groups, gender, sexual orientation and ability among the people who live, work, study in and visit the city.
Also, our Creating Communities of Equality and Respect: Women’s Safety and Empowerment Action Plan 2021-2024 outlines action that can be taken to prevent violence against women.
Updates
October 2023
- A new translation function has been added to Participate Melbourne, helping users to translate content can into the top 10 languages other than English that are spoken in the municipality.
- Inclusive employment program Game Changers, supported eight young people to gain employment at our recreation facilities. This program, delivered in partnership by The Huddle and YMCA, provides free support to young people seeking employment, including resume writing, interview practice, career planning, and goal setting. The program has helped improve diversity in the recreation facilities’ workforce with 26 per cent living in the City of Melbourne, 25 per cent born overseas, 15 per cent identifying as being a part of the LGBTQI+ community, and 9 per cent with a disability.
- TalktoMe was an application developed by St Vincent’s hospital and funded by us to facilitate brief, sentence-based, non-clinical information in multiple languages when communicating about day-to-day topics relating to healthcare.
- An inclusion and access officer role was created within our Family Services team to provide inclusive and responsive support for families. The officer will help families from culturally diverse backgrounds access support and services.
- We received a High Commendation award at the Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence, for the holistic organisational approach to supporting international students during COVID-19, and newly arrived refugees evacuated from Kabul.
- Support for local young people continued through our partnership with The Drum, which provides inclusive services and programs for young people from all genders, religions, cultural and identity backgrounds. This partnership also supported Queerspace Youth, a peer-led program for queer, trans, intersex, gender diverse or questioning people aged 16-25 years old.
- Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Training was completed by 518 ‘Red Coat’ volunteers and event volunteers, and 74 staff members. This training helps volunteers and staff to be aware and support people living with non-visible disabilities.
- Laneway Learning hosted more than 40 ‘Queer Social Sessions’ for LGBTIQ+ people struggling with isolation and loneliness. These sessions were a place to learn new skills, be creative and connect with peers and friends.
- The Lord Mayor’s Iftar dinner was hosted at the Queen Victoria Market. This event strengthened connection with the Muslim community and demonstrated Council’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. A social enterprise that employs migrant and refugee women, Meals with Impact, provide the catering. With 80 guests, this year’s event was the largest Lord Mayor’s Iftar dinner to date.
- Through a community grant, RMIT held workshops with multicultural LGBTIQ+ people to create a glossary of LGBTIQ+ terms, concepts and services in different languages. These multilingual resources will be shared with community members, organisations, and translators to use when working in LGBTIQ+ contexts.
Several inclusive community events were delivered with the support of City of Melbourne, including:
- Coming Back Out Social, a celebration for LGBTIQ+ community members and allies.
- Somali Day Australia Festival, acknowledging and celebrating Somali culture, performance, dance and history.
- Queer Formal Melbourne, a safe and inclusive event where more than 700 LGBTIQ+ young people were able to be themselves and connect with other young people.
- Australian Oromo Cultural Week, to engage the Oromo and wider community in a celebration of Australian and East African culture, music and entertainment.
- Spanish Language Fiesta, celebrating the Spanish language by inviting the wider community to connect with, and learn about, Spanish culture.
- Vasant Festival, in the lead up to Holi, which featured performances by community members, dance workshops, children’s art and Holi coloured powder making activities.
- United Through Football soccer tournament, for African young people
February 2023
- We are renewing and upgrading infrastructure to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, predominantly Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs). This program of works is running ahead of schedule and at the end of January approximately 20 projects have been delivered, equating to over 70% of the program.
- We are embedding equity of access and inclusion across our tourism services, programs, events and information. We have worked with Guide Dogs Victoria to implement virtual beacon technology to aid people with vision impairment in navigating Swanston Street and Bourke Street. We are also investigating improvements to our tactile street signage across the city.
- Our libraries have recently launched their own Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Plan with action to improve accessibility to our libraries, services and resources.
- Book-A-Librarian has kicked off again for 2023 where people can book one on one time to get some digital literacy support with online platforms and use of digital devices.