Wurundjeri heritage and culture

Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder, Uncle Dave Wandin, shares the importance of understanding an Acknowledgment of Country and how to deliver it with respect.

Find out more about Melbourne’s Traditional Owners and Aboriginal peoples’ deep connection to Country.

Monday 13 February marked the 15th Anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. As part of the ongoing work towards reconciliation, we are in the process of acknowledging, recognising and paying tribute to the Stolen Generations by establishing a marker within the municipality. The Victorian Aboriginal Community – including those who are part of the Stolen Generations and their families – are invited to provide feedback on three potential shortlisted marker locations.

More community and recreational spaces

Transforming Southbank Boulevard project is completed. The project created five new public spaces and neighbourhood parks (more than 22,000 sqm) along Southbank Boulevard up to City Road, including the new "risk" play space between Kavanagh and Fawkner streets.

Our libraries have recently launched their own Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Plan with action to improve accessibility to our libraries, services and resources.

A turning of the soil event was held on 7 February for the Boyd Village which will be delivered by PDG in partnership with Investa, Hamilton Marino and the City of Melbourne. Community members will benefit from additional Council facilities in the two levels of the building set aside for the City of Melbourne.

Neighbourhood greening

We recently hosted two successful Canopy Green Roof Forum workshops at the Library at the Dock. These workshops were facilitated by Melbourne’s emerging horticultural star Jac Semmler, who provided residents from Docklands, CBD and Southbank with practical planting advice and design tips to beautify their rooftops and balconies with biodiverse flowers and year-round blooms. Community participants were delighted to partake in the planting session with Councillor Hakim, and take home a special potted creation.

We are launching the Grow It Local program in early 2023 for all City of Melbourne community members to get involved in growing food at home. As part of the program, Grow it Local have launched the latest Autumn Seed Service, a patch-to-plate adventure that makes free heirloom seeds and instructional content available to local residents. This free offer is available to the first 100 participants who register at to receive a package containing heirloom seed varieties including kale, rainbow chard and spinach. Participants will learn to grow from seed-to-spanakopita with Costa Georgiadis via online videos for each stage of the growing journey and support is also available from Grow it Local’s garden guru.

We distributed productive plants displayed in front of the Melbourne Town Hall to community gardens and groups across the municipality, including Carlton, CBD, Docklands, East Melbourne, Kensington, North Melbourne, Southbank and South Yarra. In Southbank, Southbank Sustainability Group received 50+ plants to plant and share with the community.

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Sustainable living

We're working to make it easier to access affordable renewable energy, 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 electricity. Late last year we consulted with community on ideas for where neighbourhood batteries should be installed and how we design retail plans with an energy retail partner. Keep an eye on the Power Melbourne page for opportunities to get involved in the next stage of engagement activities, opening soon.

We’re continuing to roll out our four-year Major Initiative Prepare Melbourne to engage and prepare residents and communities to enhance their resilience to hazards, disasters and the health impacts of climate change. Over October and November last year we delivered a pilot project for the Southbank neighbourhood to better understand the physical and social vulnerabilities our communities face to disasters and how we can build a more resilient community. Community ideas for resilience building will be shared soon. Kensington and then Carlton will be the next neighbourhoods to participate in community resilience assessments during March to May. Look out for information on Participate on how to get involved in the coming month. To be better prepared for challenges that may come your way, consider downloading the Get Prepared App from Australian Red Cross.

We continue to provide a wide range of services for reusing, recycling or disposing of unwanted household items and materials. 11,400 combined tonnes were collected from various sources including communal recycling bins, cardboard bins and residential collections between October 2022 and January 2023

We continue to roll out the Food Organics Service to high-rise residential apartments across Melbourne. Selected buildings are undertaking a 12-month pilot program to collect and process food scraps using an on-site organic processor. For more information on the pilot, visit Food Organics High-Rise Pilot.

We’ve become one of six cities around the world to appoint dedicated Chief Heat Officers to raise awareness about extreme heat risk, provide local leadership and collaborate to deliver solutions. We’re currently delivering Heat Health Preparedness seminars with a range of community groups across February and March. We're also working on developing a plan to make the city safer from the impacts of heat and will be engaging with people who may be vulnerable to the experiences of heatwaves across each neighbourhood.

Affordable and safe transport

Stage 1 works of the St Kilda Road Bike Lanes project by Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) including the new protected bike lanes between Linlithgow Avenue and Dorcas Street are now complete. Stage 2 works between Toorak Road and Union Street commenced in early November 2022 and are expected to be complete by mid 2023.

We’re working with the Department of Transport and Planning to inform its evaluation of the e-scooter trial and decision on the legalisation of e-scooters. The Victorian Government extended the trial until 31 March 2023. To date there have been more than 3 million e-scooter trips across the city as part of the trial, many of which are replacing car trips and providing increased access to city attractions.

We’re collaborating with other nearby councils as part of M9 to develop actions that encourage more people to ride. We supported Ride to Work Day activities in October that showed an increase in bike and scooter users by 48 per cent compared to 2021.

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More diverse hospitality and retail options

The Yarra River Businss Association (YRBA) launched "Your Yarra 3006 - Riverside Resident Survey" to guide local business community to be more supportive of local residents' needs. – from what they offer to how much they charge for it – as well as provide more diverse hospitality and retail options.

The Yarra River Business Association (YRBA) has commissioned a marketing examination of the South and North Wharves of the Yarra River. They shared the findings at a business luncheon 11 November 2022 at South Wharf.

To support local businesses, we lifted the holiday spirit with our Christmas Decoration program. The river’s edge in Southbank remains a focus with regards to driving visitation and connection to the city’s core retail and hospitality offering. Christmas installations and activations were held across the precinct from late November to 24 December 2022.

The Christmas Collective program is an initiative as part of the Christmas Festival. One of the objectives is to increase visitation and spend supporting the economy. A total of $74,726.00 in funding was allocated to 15 businesses/groups to deliver an event or activity.

Dusk 2 Dawn applications were open throughout November and December. Applications are currently being reviewed, with successful activations commencing in May.

Between October 2022 and January 2023 our Business Concierge service have had 5000 interactions with businesses across the municipality. The range of enquiries have been simple support requests over the phone and email, face to face interactions and supporting new businesses in their start up.

We’ve launched the Melbourne Economy Snapshot, a free seasonal activity guide designed to help businesses make data-led decisions by understanding Melbourne’s new rhythm. The first edition shows a sky-high December, with a record $1.1b spent across the city. Friday and Saturday remain the busiest days in Melbourne, while our night-time economy continues to flourish. Delve into the nitty gritty and explore weekday, weekend and night-time activity.

The City of Melbourne’s social enterprise grants program supports social enterprise businesses to thrive in Melbourne. The program supports startups and existing enterprises which are expanding or developing new products or services with a distinctly social purpose. Applications are currently open and close at 2pm Friday 10 March 2023.

Parks and open spaces with amenities

Transforming Southbank Boulevard project is completed. The project created five new public spaces and neighbourhood parks (more than 22,000 sqm) along Southbank Boulevard up to City Road, including the new "risk" play space between Kavanagh and Fawkner streets.

The Greenline Project’s Birrarung Marr Precinct Site One concept design was endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee on Tuesday 6 December 2022. We will now progress the detailed design and program planning for Birrarung Marr Precinct Site One, working towards construction commencing in 2023. Thank you to everyone who contributed their feedback. Consultation took place from 2 August to 12 September 2022. View the final concept design and learn more about what we heard on the community consultation page. You can also access the meeting notes and watch a livestream from the Future Melbourne Committee meeting.

We have launched the trial of the Floating Wetlands project on the Yarra River - Birrarung. Three large wetlands have been towed onto the river, occupying prime locations at Yarra’s Edge near Webb Bridge and Victoria Harbour Promenade in Docklands. The Floating Wetlands trial is a joint initiative of the City of Melbourne and the State Government. The project has been funded through a $700,000 grant from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and was first identified by the City of Melbourne’s 2019 Yarra River Strategy.

New green space is on the way for Southbank as we convert roadway into public open space in the heart of Melbourne’s arts precinct. Located in Dodds Street between Grant Street and Southbank Boulevard, the Dodds Street Linear Park project will create 1,300 square metres of native grassland planting and 35 new trees set amongst paved bluestone pathways and gathering spaces. This new landscape will be resilient and sustainable, with inbuilt raingardens and structural soil made onsite from remediated site soils. The landscape works are anticipated to be completed by the end of December 2023.

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Dog friendly neighbourhood

We are currently working on developing 'dogs in the park' events in neighbourhoods. These events, in partnership with behaviour trainers from the Lost Dogs' Home aim to raise awareness and provide education of dog behaviour, enrichment and responsible dog ownership to improve dog and human experiences in public places.

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Planning and development impacts

The Neighbourhood Portals have been updated with links to planning register entries relevant to each neighbourhood, making it easier for community members to find local planning applications. Weekly Planning Applications and Decisions Lists are now sorted by neighbourhood for ease of reference. Sign up to receive these weekly emails.

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Vibrant public spaces

We are monitoring Haig St daily to remove all instances of trolleys, dumped rubbish and litter to ensure residents feel safe on the street.

We are tackling illegally dumped hard rubbish in the Dodds Street and Wells Street area by regular patrols and enforcement action. We have provided education to a building manager in the area. Due to regular patrols, items being dumped on the roadside have been reported more quickly, and are therefore removed in a timely manner.

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.

Between October 2022 and January 2023:

• 42,000 square metres of graffiti was removed
• 1350 tonnes was sent to landfill from public litter bins
• 11,400 combined tonnes from various sources including communal recycling bins, cardboard bins and residential collections.
• Over 1800 tonnes of cigarette butts collected and recycled.
• 1435 tonnes of street sweepings collected
• 712 loose syringes collected from public spaces
• 110 collections from syringe bins located in public and private facilities.

Pedestrian safety

Transforming Southbank Boulevard project is completed. The project has turned this once busy street in the heart of Melbourne’s Arts Precinct into one of Australia’s most pedestrian-friendly places.

The City Road and Power Street intersection is undergoing a major upgrade to improve safety for pedestrians and drivers. The work is anticipated to be completed by March 2023

The Southbank Pedestrian Safety Study has launched.

We are refining detailed designs for zebra crossings, kerb extensions, and road humps at two locations including Balston Street at Kavanagh Street and Balston Street at City Road. Construction will commence soon.

To improve pedestrian safety on Southbank Promenade, we worked with the Southbank Residents Association (SRA) and installed a sensor to capture data. The data will help us understand the flow of users, their speed and behaviours, and their peak travelling times.

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.

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Traffic and noise management

The City Road and Power Street intersection is undergoing a major upgrade to improve safety for pedestrians and drivers. The work is anticipated to be completed by March 2023

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Safer neighbourhood

Southbank Safety and Security Committee (SSSC)'s quarterly meeting was held on 6 December at Boyd Community Hub. The committee discussed New Year's Eve planning and Victoria Police Situational Awareness Map (SAM) to include community CCTV.

The Need to Know editorial group has increased distribution of their Zine over 2022 tenfold to around 2000 hardcopies around key points and agencies. Members have secured employment, made friends, learnt digital literacy skills and one participant is exhibitng their art at Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre in March. Jobs Victoria Advocates from City Local Learning and Employment Network are continuing their partnership with Libraries and are availabe at Kathleen Syme Centre for free employment, financial and legal support.

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Community activities and events

Owners Corporations and management companies are looking at ways to bring residents together for social activities, including Essential Community which invited residents from various high-rise buildings in the CBD and Southbank to meet their neighbours for a Trivia Night in December.

Southbank 3006 residents group supported by Christmas Collective Program and Boyd Community Hub delivered the Xmas event "A Very Merry Friend-mas " with over 1000 resident attending on the day enjoying a full day of programmed activities , music, performances, stalls and more.

The Yarra River Business Association (YRBA) hosted the South Wharf Christmas Choir and Film evening on 18 December 2022.

Melbourne experienced its busiest month of activity in December since the start of the pandemic, anchored by the City of Melbourne’s beloved Christmas Festival and biggest ever New Year’s Eve celebrations. Around 475,000 people brought in 2023 in style in the city, with the vast majority of travellers safely enjoying the dazzling fireworks and laser displays from 30 CBD rooftops.

We lifted the holiday spirit with our Christmas Decoration program. The river’s edge in Southbank remains a focus with regards to driving visitation and connection to the city’s core retail and hospitality offering. Queensbridge Square featured a pop-up playground featuring bell swings, a giant dance floor and an interactive orchestra. Christmas installations and activations were held across the precinct from late November to 24 December 2022.

We have supported various community projects with Connected Neighbourhood Small Grants across the city. No applications were received from Southbank.

Boyd Community Hub is busy with community activities: Australian Business Review (ABR) hosts Poets Lounge on the first Wednesday of the month. Southbank Sustainability Group meets every fortnight at the community garden. Southbank3006 hosts monthly community forum on the last Sunday of the month. Library children’s programs are on every Monday and Thursday.

Melbourne will be filled to the brim with dozens of new creative offerings, thanks to new funding to support and grow our vibrant arts sector. We have allocated more than $175,000 across 49 projects through our 2022 Quick Response Arts Grants program – the only fast turnaround micro-grant program offering this level of support in Australia. The latest round of the program will support nearly 350 artists to develop and present their work in public – including live theatre, dance, music, films, written pieces and visual art.

Work is underway to prepare for Melbourne’s much-loved Moomba Festival with an extra day of fun added to its line up of family-friendly entertainment in celebration of its 69th year. Australia’s largest free community festival will be bursting with colour and excitement, featuring a range of spectacular events and attractions. The festival will support over 800 jobs across a range of sectors including the arts, creative, construction and services industries. The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Symbol initiative will also run again at this year’s event, helping support those living with hidden disabilities.

We are sponsoring following events via the annual Event Partnership Program and the City Reactivation Event Support Program in the period from October 2022 to December 2023: NGV Kids Summer Festival and Kids Exhibition at NGV (1/1/2023 – 8/10/2023), Victorian Seniors Festival, Victorian Disability Sports and Recreation Festival.

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.

Applications for our Inclusive Communities Grants open twice a year. This includes operational support grants of up to $2000 and for larger projects and initiatives up to $20,000. Applications for projects taking place from July 2023 to June 2024 are open from Monday 20 February and close Monday 20 March. Applications for Inclusive Communities Grants open twice a year.

Community Events Grants of up to $10,000 per event are available to not-for-profit organisations to work in partnership with the City of Melbourne. Applications for events held between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024 will open Monday 20th of February and close Monday 20th of March. Applications for Community Events Grants open annually.

Check out other grant opportunities on the Community Noticeboard.

No applications have been submitted for the Connected Neighbourhood Small Grants from the Southbank neighbourhood.

The following projects have recently received Connected Neighbourhood Small Grants:

• Growing Stronger Communities Together - This project aims to provide a new outdoor gathering and bbq space at the Kensington housing estate.
• The Creative Youth Coding Program - This project is aimed at providing outcomes for children (aged 11-12) in the City North area where there is currently limited low-cost weekend programming for children and young people.

• Book Club - This is a unique idea to bring together diverse groups of women in the CBD neighbourhood to support each other and learn together about financial and business skills.
• Docklands Primary School End of Year Celebration - This project is aimed at bringing together the Docklands community, beyond the school community, for a concert and celebration.
• Carlton High Rise Elder Citizens project - This project aims at increasing community connection for older men living in the Carlton Housing Estate.
• Unity makes Community East Melbourne - This project aims to be an event inclusive of all the community to encourage post pandemic re-connection and assist residents to get their bicycles running again in a community setting.
• Baby Wearing Boogie - This event will help new parents in the COM connect with others, move their bodies, have some fun and enrich their babies lives with new sensory experiences.
• Community Cooking Club - The Community Cooking Club will meet weekly at Carlton PS to plan recipes, budget for shopping for the following month. Meals will be cooked and shared by participants with participants leading the program. Participants will be encouraged and supported to set up a fortnightly school lunch program, become involved in site activities including community events involving food. The grant will be used to purchase a fridge/freezer for use by Community Cooking Club, healthy lunch program and other programs at Carlton PS. To be used to store fresh/frozen produce for community/school programs and food from Foodbank.
• East Melbourne Community Christmas Picnic - ‘Building Community Spirit’ is an inclusive Community Picnic to celebrate the festive season and bring our community together. The event will take place on the grounds of Bishopscourt and residents are invited to bring along a picnic and enjoy an afternoon of music, entertainment, social interaction, and community connection.
• HEALING MINDS THROUGH MUSIC - Healing Mind through Music aims to collaborate with Paving The Way Forward, Co Health, Chinese Elderly Dancing Group and Vietnamese Elderly Association in North Melbourne to bring elderly people of all backgrounds together, to help people to improve mental health by healing the mind, body, and soul.
• Growing Kensington's Community Food Forest Together - Growing Kensington’s Community Food Forest Together will rebuild a team of volunteers to refresh this newly established food garden based on permaculture principles which‍ have both (volunteers and garden) suffered years of decline from COVID lockdowns. A new volunteer team will help to restore and maintain the garden’s food abundance for fair share harvesting amongst Kensington Estate’s (former public housing, now 50:50 public private new housing) 2000+ residents and neighbours.
• Celebrate at Yarra's Edge: The Docklands Connection - A one off event to bring the community of Docklands together to connect and showcase: local talent, businesses and government services. The event will be held at Shed 21, 206 Lorimer Street Docklands on Saturday 26 November, 12pm - 3pm. This will also help to reactivate the site. We have approached a number of organisations to determine interest in the event eg. Development Victoria, Mirvac, various social groups etc.
• Mushroom Growing Workshop Series - The funding will provide access to four mushroom-growing workshops at the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden during 2023. The workshops will provide an opportunity for social connection and community building at the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden where participants will learn how growing mushrooms can be cheap, easy, and a sustainable way to produce their own fresh mushrooms at home and in the community.
• Gardening@33 - Gardening@33 is a social gardening project aimed at facilitating increased social connections between community members, building community resilience, and contributing to greater mental and physical health. This will be achieved through fortnightly sessions involving hands-on gardening alternating with theory-based guest lectures. The project is resident-led, and will build awareness of food systems, growing and cultivating, the importance and function of native plants in our community food garden.
• Removing Barriers to Education - River Nile Learning Centre (RNLC) students are all newly arrived refugee and asylum seeker women who struggle to survive on limited or no welfare payments. The grant will be used to purchase Myki’s for participants in English language classes at our learning centre in North Melbourne.
• LITTLE KENSPACE - The DRUM Youth Committee would like to design and furnish a vacant space at the bottom of the Kensington Housing Estate building - has a small room at 56 Derby St corner office space we propose can be used by young people Wednesdays 4-6pm. This $2K funding will be used for items such as a couch, and Xbox and television and some beanbags or similar to upgrade the space.