About Glen Eira City Council
Glen Eira City Council actively fosters inclusivity by ensuring that every community member is recognised and heard through a combination of broad and targeted engagement strategies. The Council’s digital platform, ‘Have Your Say Glen Eira,’ plays a central role in promoting inclusiveness, alongside conducting open surveys, employing translation services on social media to engage non-English speakers, and hosting in-person pop-up events to connect with diverse groups.
In addition to these engagement efforts, Glen Eira adopts a targeted approach by focusing on specific groups such as multicultural communities, aged care, and individuals with disabilities. This is accomplished through close collaboration with advisory committees and reference groups, allowing for a range of perspectives to be gathered and shared across community networks.
Stacey Murphy, Coordinator of the Engagement Insights team at Glen Eira City Council, stressed the importance of inclusive engagement, highlighting the need to ensure that every community member has a voice.
“Inclusive engagement is important because it gives everybody equitable access to having a say. So, when we’re running community engagements, we hear from some strong voices, and inclusive engagement is about making sure that we also hear from the predominantly unheard voices who require some additional support or access to be able to participate in having a say. So, whether it’s people with a disability, people who speak another language, or people who are socio-economically disadvantaged, it’s really important.”
The Goal
A key example of Glen Eira’s dedication to inclusive engagement is the Council’s two-month ‘Our Priorities, Our Future‘ initiative, during which the Council actively invited input from all community members on future budgets for shared priorities and services. To ensure that all residents had the opportunity to contribute, Glen Eira tailored various engagement activities to specific age groups.
The Approach
For example, Glen Eira engaged children through a drawing activity, created a youth-specific survey for younger participants, provided paper-based surveys for older residents and individuals with disabilities, and offered an online survey option with iPads available for those who preferred electronic submissions.
The Council also held sessions for multicultural communities, offering translators to ensure effective communication. Additionally, they formed a Community Priorities Panel, selecting 37 individuals from 135 applicants to represent the diversity of Glen Eira. This panel participated in meetings, provided advice, and offered recommendations to help guide the Council’s future plans.
Stacey emphasised the significance of connecting with the multicultural community, noting that fostering these relationships is essential for creating an inclusive environment where diverse voices are valued and heard.
“We have a very diverse community in general. It is a very multicultural community. So making sure that all of those community members are able to participate in the council’s decision-making process is really important to us.”
The Result
Through Glen Eira’s engagement initiatives, the Council gathered 1,755 responses to their community survey, facilitated 1,773 conversations at pop-up engagements, reached 420 people from four underrepresented groups through targeted activities, and engaged 152 young people at pop-up sessions and through school involvement. Additionally, four Council Advisory Committees were consulted.
As a result of the Council’s initiative, Glen Eira identified five key community priorities:
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Parks, gardens, playgrounds, and open spaces
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Sporting grounds, swimming pools, gyms, and recreation centres
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Roads, footpaths, traffic management, and cycling infrastructure
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Rubbish collection and waste management
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Libraries
By identifying the community’s top five priorities, Glen Eira City Council has demonstrated its commitment to addressing the diverse needs of its residents. Through a mix of broad and targeted efforts, including digital platforms, in-person events, and tailored activities for specific groups, the Council has fostered a sense of belonging for all. This inclusive approach has ensured that every voice is heard and valued for shaping the future of Glen Eira.
