Wurundjeri culture and heritage

- On 21 March, Melbourne City Council endorsed a motion in support of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, and the ‘yes’ campaign for the Constitutional Recognition of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. As part of our ongoing commitment to truth-telling, we have compiled a set of resources about the Voice to Parliament, the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, and the upcoming referendum. We will continue updating these resources as the referendum approaches, including information in multiple languages. We encourage you to bookmark this page to stay up to date.

Authorised by Sally Capp in Melbourne on behalf of Melbourne City Council.

- In May, Yirramboi festival brought us an incredible program of First Nations creative exploration for community to experience across the city. In May and June as part of National Reconciliation Week, we hosted a range of events to promote truth-telling, learning, healing and change, including an oration by 2022 Melbournian of the Year, Anotinette Braybrook which is available to view. In July we celebrated National NAIDOC Week and offered a range of activities to embrace and deepen understanding of our Aboriginal history and culture including a Deadly Books Giveaway, NAIDOC in the City event, Finders Keepers Market and more.

Affordable housing

- We will encourage short-term accommodation operators to shift their properties onto the long-term rental market to deliver more homes for people wanting to live in Melbourne. At the 29 August Council meeting, Councillors voted to begin consultation to inform the development of new local laws that are designed to encourage the flip of short-term accommodation into long-term rentals. Consultation opened in September for feedback. New regulation is likely to be introduced in February 2024.

- We are running a People’s Panel on Affordable Housing in October and November. This panel will include 40 people who are representative of our resident community, to hear from experts, learn about affordable housing in the community and explore new and innovative ways to truly make Melbourne a city that everyone can call home.

- Through one of our community grants, Anika Legal developed self-advocacy guides for renters in 10 priority languages to help residents experiencing disadvantage navigate changes in rental laws and find help with housing related legal problems.

Inclusive community venues and spaces

- Brens Pavilion is the second of three pavilions to be built in Royal Park to increase the number of women and girls taking part in sport. The pavilion was completed in May, and sports clubs have moved in and begun using the new facilities.

- Our Family Services team has created a new inclusion and access officer role to provide inclusive and responsive support for families. The officer will help families from culturally diverse backgrounds access support and services.

- Our libraries provided a safe and welcoming space for all community members, through programs such as storytime for children, ‘Cook to Connect’ social cooking sessions, book clubs including Chinese book club, queer book club and Womempower book club, ‘Connect Café' to provide tech help for older people, talks such as queer history in Melbourne, and a trans and gender diverse writing group.

- Communication boards have been provided at all customer service points and libraries. These boards contain symbols and pictures and are an alternative communication device for people with limited or no language. Scope Australia was engaged to update and customise the communication boards and provide training to staff.

Parks and greening

- We're re-establishing a colony of unique insect species currently under threat in Melbourne. In 2022, we released 25 male and 25 female Larupuna matchstick grasshoppers at ten sites in Royal Park. The native flightless insects were studied by researchers this year and were found to have become established at 8 out of the 10 sites.

- We are preparing a discussion paper for the draft Royal Park Master Plan Refresh, which will outline the key themes, opportunities and challenges for Royal Park. We will be seeking community feedback later this year.

- You may have noticed our tree maintenance contractors working on trees near you, all our trees get assessed for their health every one to two years. With more than 80,000 trees in the City of Melbourne this is a big job. Recently you would have seen our contractors at work in Parkville, Docklands, North Melbourne, West Melbourne, Carlton and East Melbourne.

- We released our new Greening Melbourne permit system which enables community-led greening on council-owned footpaths. Visit Greening Melbourne to read more about this initiative.

Waste, recycling and graffiti

- All residential single-unit dwellings and low-rise multi-unit dwellings in the City of Melbourne had access to a food waste recycling service in 2022-23. This has resulted in more than 5600 tonnes of food waste being diverted from landfill and recycled into compost.

- Works have progressed so remaining households can access food waste recycling, including trialling options for recycling within high-rise buildings, which includes food waste dehydrator technology. This program diverts organic waste from landfill while minimising waste truck movement within the city.

- Programs to minimise waste from businesses within the city have also started, including educating small to medium businesses about the benefits of minimising waste and opting for reusable and recyclable packaging and products. Food waste recycling has also expanded within the city for businesses, utilising electric bikes to collect and divert over 146.59 tonnes of food waste.

- We continue to expand our Rapid Response Clean Team to fast-track graffiti removal, dumped rubbish, cigarettes, street sweeping and syringe collection across the city. Residents, workers and visitors continue to play an important role in reporting graffiti and rubbish across the city using Council’s QR code reporting system.  From January to August this year we received 25,549 requests to respond to graffiti and cleaned more than 70,000 square metres of surfaces of graffiti.

Sustainable living

- More than 150 kW of battery capacity has been installed across the municipality, primarily at residential properties in Parkville, Kensington, North Melbourne and Carlton. Capacity figures were taken from data updated by the Australian Energy Market Operator in March.

- We’re committed to reducing the threat of extreme urban heat for all, particularly vulnerable people. We are working to create a ‘heat safe city’ with our goal that the city provides places of respite for residents, workers and visitors during extreme heat events. Earlier in the year we consulted with community on heat health priorities and ways we can create a heat safe city. This feedback is helping us develop heat safe city principles and advocacy positions which will guide actions for future summers, such as design of streetscapes and open space, location of shading and services to support vulnerable community members. Keep an eye on the Heat Safe City page page for further updates.

- Our Power Melbourne project will install a network of neighbourhood batteries around the city to help renters, people living in apartments, and those running small businesses access more affordable renewable energy. Last year we consulted with community on where the first batteries could be installed, and the first three locations were approved by Council: Library at the Dock in Docklands, Boyd Community Hub in Southbank, and Council House 2 in CBD.

- We identified further areas for future neighbourhood batteries and ran a city-wide online survey and pop-ups in Carlton, North Melbourne, Kensington, South Yarra and East Melbourne. A team of Community Champions also explored the topic with their personal and professional networks. This helped us understand how people feel about potentially having a neighbourhood battery in their area, the kinds of benefits they want to see, and their location ideas. Follow the Power Melbourne page for updates including the report on this phase of engagement.

Hospitality and retail

- The Invest Melbourne Advisory Board was established. It is made up of sector experts, who are leading work on growth sectors through three sub-board working groups – life sciences, technology and renewable energy.

- Our small business grants program supports new businesses to get started and existing businesses to expand and grow. This year we have a special focus on supporting small businesses that enhance the city’s vitality by increasing the occupancy rate of shopfronts across the municipality.

- Our Business Concierge team had 8089 contacts with business across the City of Melbourne between February and September.

Heritage protection

- Work continued on the Parkville Heritage Review. Following appropriate consultation with Wurundjeri Traditional Owners, this will be presented to Council next year.

- Melbourne’s heritage is a rich tapestry of Aboriginal and much later colonial and contemporary stories. We are celebrating all things heritage across the city and invite you to join us. Share your stories, photos and videos celebrating #timelessmelbourne. There are plenty of ways to get involved including self-guided walking tours, learning about history of neighbourhoods and exploring the arts and heritage collection.

Public transport

- On behalf of the Victorian Government, the Level Crossing Removal Project will remove eight more level crossings on the Upfield Line by 2027, including the boom gates from Park Street, Parkville. We are a key stakeholder in the project and will assist in achieving the successful preparation, planning and ultimate delivery of the project in 2027. Consultation with the community is expected to begin in the coming months.

- The Brunswick Level Crossing Removals Position Paper outlines our position on the project that will be progressed as its delivery evolves. The paper was endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee in May. Stay updated on the project or subscribe to receive email updates to keep informed.

- As part of Metro Tunnel works, Parkville Station precinct has moved into the final phase of construction with reinstatement and public realm works underway. From 5 October, early works will commence to enable the construction of an accessible tram stop on Elizabeth Street and Royal Parade, between Haymarket Roundabout and Genetics Lane. There will be bus replacement services at various times in November along sections of the Route 19 tram line.

Traffic and parking

- Community consultation on the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan was carried out from March to April. Overall, there was a high level of support for the direction of the draft plan. There was also strong support for a strategic and data-led approach to kerbside management and equitable and inclusive access to kerbside space. Council endorsed the plan in May and we're currently implementing parking improvements in the CBD. We'll shortly be engaging with residents and businesses, and improving parking across our neighbourhoods.

- We’re continuing to work with the Department of Transport and Planning to monitor and evaluate the trial of shared e-scooters. The trial has been extended until 5 October.To date, there have been 5.4 million e-scooter trips made since the beginning of the trial in February 2022.In August, the Future Melbourne Committee voted on the future of commercial e-scooter operations. The rollout of in-app designated parking across the municipality is being looked at as part of this. We are also talking to Victoria Police and the Minister for Roads and Road Safety to ensure they can provide adequate infrastructure and enforcement of the road rules for e-scooters. We are currently working with e-scooter operators to rollout designated parking, focussing first on the Hoddle Grid, before moving to other high activity locations such as Southbank, Docklands and Carlton. By October we should have transitioned Flinders Street, Swanston Street, Elizabeth Street to fully designated parking.E-scooter operators are trialling technology to improve the safety of e-scooters, particularly targeting illegal activity such as footpath riding and riding with a passenger.

- We launched Biketober 2023, a bike encouragement program, in collaboration with RACV, Banyule, Glen Eira, Bendigo and Ballarat. Biketober will run through October and is open to businesses and community members for free.

- We are working through the M9 Active Transport Behaviour Change Working Group, made up of other inner-Melbourne councils, to support collaboration on sustainable transport behaviour change initiatives. This work has seen Open Streets and e-Bike subsidy schemes expand across multiple areas.

Safety in the streets

- A ‘drug safety in the city’ flyer has been produced and distributed to key stakeholders and businesses.

- A Local Safety Committee Meeting was held in June, which covered the Melbourne West local area, which includes the western part of the CBD, Parkville, Carlton, North Melbourne and Docklands. Representatives from each of these neighbourhoods were present.

- We hosted the Melbourne Licensees Forum in June, a forum where licensed venues share information and discuss matters impacting them. This forum shared learnings and information about the late night liquor license freeze and public intoxication law reform.

- Pedestrian crossings were installed at The Avenue and Walker Street roundabout.

Recreational spaces and programs

- Mamma Ball, a fun and tailored women’s basketball skills and fitness program is running every Thursday, 9.30–10.30am at Melbourne Sports Centre Parkville. Led by Deakin Melbourne Boomers WNBL players and coaches, sessions are aimed at all skill levels, and are as much about community and connection as they are about fitness and fun. From beginners to seasoned veterans, women and non-binary participants are all welcome to take part. The program is free but registration is required.

- We're exploring ways to improve opportunities for women, girls and others who experience barriers to participation in community sport and recreation. To achieve this, we’re developing a Fair Access Policy. Public consultation was also carried out during September and October to better understand the barriers, as well as enablers to inclusion. Find out more about this work and how to get involved.

Grants of up to $2000 are available to increase community participation, connection, equity, diversity and inclusion through our new Connected Neighbourhoods Small Grants. Applications are open all year until the budget has been fully allocated.

Check out other grant opportunities on the Community Noticeboard.