VOLUME 37, NUMBER 11, NOVEMBER 2021
REGISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST PRINT POST APPROVED PP 100001964 ISSN 0819–470X
Community pulls together As Australia makes its way slowly but surely along the Prime Minister’s ‘roadmap out of COVID-19’, many communities tally the costs and reflect on the lessons learned from yet another once-in-a-hundred-years crisis event. Working within a small rural remote council has its challenges. But it also comes with many benefits. Every staff member is not just a council worker, but is also an important member of a close-knit community through social, sporting or cultural ties. This was brought home for the staff based at the Wilcannia office of Central Darling Shire Council, New South Wales, as they worked shoulder to shoulder with community volunteers, medical staff and emergency services as Wilcannia had become the latest COVID-19 Ground Zero. Within days of being put into a state-wide lockdown on 14 August, the community rallied to support a suddenly growing number of
Council staff, army and police organise food drops for COVID-19 positive families.
COVID-19 positive residents. This included the staff of Central Darling Shire. Administration staff were now grocery warehouse managers and delivery people,
getting a crash course on how to properly kit out in full personal protection equipment; directors were triaging vaccination clinics, quickly learning medical terminology,
recording systems and reception; and satellite office staff, most working from home and hundreds of kilometres away from the centre of the action, were fielding calls from
media and concerned members of the public. The Far West Local Health District led the response, ensuring testing clinics were up and running, getting COVID-19 positive people and close contacts into secure accommodation for isolation, which included marshalling a convoy of motorhomes placed at Council’s Victory Park Caravan Park. But behind the scenes, parks and gardens staff, gangers, roadworkers, office staff, directors and the general manager were all on the ground, ensuring these sites were ready to house whatever infrastructure was needed. Central Darling Shire covers a landmass the size of Tasmania and is around 900km from Sydney. With
four towns and three Council offices, most of which are two hours’ drive apart, the challenges are unique. The Shire has a total population of less than 1800 people and is in the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas’ (SEIFA) top quintile for disadvantage. Despite a total staff load of 50 people based throughout the Shire and across all areas of Council operations, Central Darling Shire works to build a strong collegiate community within its staff, and the growth in technology platforms has assisted with this. A sense of community within the organisation set the foundations for staff to support each other, treat new and changing roles as a learning experience and bring that to the wider community.
Supporting refugees and asylum seekers Ballarat in central Victoria is home to a small number of Hazara Afghans and has been reminded by recent events in Afghanistan how important it is to embrace and support refugees and people seeking asylum. The city is well positioned to provide support for this critical sector of the community as a Refugee Welcome Zone, an Intercultural City, a Welcoming City and a member of Mayors for Peace. City of Ballarat Mayor, Daniel Moloney said Ballarat had benefited enormously from its multicultural community, and it was essential that the City continued to advocate for accepting and supporting a diverse multicultural community, particularly in this case those Afghans and Hazaras who have found sanctuary in Ballarat. “Ballarat is a growth city and an important part of the foundation for growth is en-
suring we welcome and provide the necessary support platforms for our multicultural community. “The recent events in Afghanistan serve as a timely reminder of how tough life can be for anyone coming to a new country and making a new start; often leaving loved ones behind in tenuous circumstances.” Mayor Moloney recently wrote to the local Hazara community expressing support and empathy. He has also written to the Prime Minister and other Ministers in Federal Government extending the City’s support and making a commitment to work in partnership with all levels of government.
City of Ballarat is involved in a range of partnerships and networks that provide key services to asylum seekers and refugees, funding projects and activities by community groups and organisations supporting multicultural groups and advocating for appropriate services to support the needs of these groups. “Ballarat is a Refugee Welcome Zone and supports the Refugee Council of Australia. We will stand in solidarity with Ballarat Rural Australians for Refugees, and the extensive network supporting refugees and people seeking asylum in Ballarat. “We are all proud to have a terrific multicultural community that brings fresh ideas
City of Ballarat opens its heart to refugees and asylum seekers.
and creativity in abundance to our city. Our city is all the richer for the advantages
that this diversity brings, and it is essential in such hard times that we embrace and
support the Afghan community of Ballarat as they have embraced us.”
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