Community advocates have praised Glenorchy City Council in Tasmania for its first-ever LGBTIQA+ Action Plan and Statement of Commitment which were developed after extensive consultation with the city’s LGBTIQA+ community.
The Council unanimously endorsed the five-year Plan and Commitment on Monday. It focusses strongly on educating the broader community about the lives and needs of LGBTIQA+ people.
Glenorchy Mayor, Sue Hickey, said the Action Plan is about equality for all.
“This statement articulates Council’s intention to foster a safe and inclusive city, strengthen community connection and visibility, support equal access to services and opportunities as well as being an inclusive workplace.
“The five-year action plan which accompanies this seeks to have these aims implemented through staged and practical actions covering training and development, partnerships and projects, inclusive policies and systems, evaluations and ongoing community engagement,” she said.
Mayor Hickey said the statement and plan were informed through the formation of an inclusion codesign group consisting of 10 community volunteers, and consultation with almost 600 community members.
“As a council, it is critical that this organisation takes a lead role in reducing discrimination in our city and foster kindness and inclusion. Developing policies to ensure we are empowering all voices in our community, including the LGBTIQA+ community is extremely important.
“As Mayor, I am extremely proud that Glenorchy City Council is actively working to improve LGBTIQA+ inclusivity. As a diverse community, kindness, acceptance and love build tolerance, understanding and equality for us all,” she said.
A member of the Glenorchy Council’s LGBTIQA+ advisory group, Andrew Shaw, said he is very pleased with the outcome.
“I am a strong advocate for educating the broader community about our lives and the challenges we face.”
“I am very pleased to see the Action Plan’s emphasise on community education, particularly partnerships with local organisations to conduct workshops promoting LGBTIQA+ inclusion.”
“I am also pleased with the Council’s codesigned consultation process which turned out to be very important for building a stronger sense of community.”
“The way the Council meaningfully included local LGBTIQA+ voices in policy and planning has been a model for how all community members can actively participate in shaping the future of our city”.
The Action Plan commits Glenorchy Council to a range of initiatives including community workshops about the lives and needs of the LGBTIQA+ community, based on LGBTIQA+ workshops that have already been conducted in partnership with groups such as Karadi Aboriginal Corporation and Bucaan Community House.
Equality Tasmania spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said the Glenorchy Action Plan and Commitment will encourage other Tasmanian councils to take similar initiatives.
“Across Tasmania local governments are rising to the challenge of LGBTIQA+ inclusion.”
“Several othercouncils already have, or are currently developing, LGBTIQA+ advisory groups and actions plans, including Launceston, Burnie, Kingborough and Brighton.”
The City of Glenorchy takes in the northern suburbs of Greater Hobart which were traditionally industrial and blue collar, as well as rural areas of Glenlusk and Collinsvale. Glenorchy also has a relatively large numbers of people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
A copy of the plan is available online.
