Learn about our commitment to diversity and involvement in Welcoming Cities, find out how to get involved in cultural events in our city, and discover services for newly arrived people and families.
Our commitment to diversity
At the City of PAE, we’re proud of our diversity. The rich heritage of our First Nations peoples, combined with our residents who have come from around the globe, makes our city a unique place to live, work, learn and play.
Our region is home to one of the most culturally diverse populations in South Australia. In 2021, a total of 47,540 people (35.9%) who were living in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield were born overseas, and 23% arrived in Australia within five years before that. Traditionally, our largest population groups came from the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Greece, but more recently, we’ve welcomed many new settlers from India, Vietnam, China and Afghanistan.
Our community members were born in 106 different countries and speak 90 different languages. Over a third of our residents speak a language other than English at home – predominantly Vietnamese, Punjabi, Mandarin, Gujarathi, Hazaragi, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Filipino/Tagalog, Cantonese and Arabic. This brings an exciting mix of cultural backgrounds, values and traditions to our community, which you can experience in our food, art, enterprise, traditions, festivals and celebrations.
Our involvement in Welcoming Cities
Welcoming Cities are places where people of all backgrounds have the same opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, as well as to contribute and prosper. Our commitment to becoming an accredited Welcoming City is embedded in our City Plan 2030 and action plans, as we build a city that values its diverse community and embraces change through innovation, resilience and community leadership. In May 2017, we became the first council in South Australia to join the Welcoming Cities Network, and in June 2022 we received our accreditation as a Welcoming City.
We’re working to create a Welcoming Precinct in Kilburn and its surrounding suburbs through collaborative projects, initiatives and activities. An important part of this project is to create safe and supportive spaces for people seeking asylum, refugees, newly arrived migrants and the local community to come together. That’s why we have established a Welcoming Centre at the Kilburn Community Centre.
We hope that this partnership and co-location will bolster existing activities and efforts to foster communities where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive. You can get in touch with the Kilburn Community Centre by calling 8405 6730.
The benefits of a Welcoming Cities accreditation:
- Increasing the impact of our community initiatives
- Providing a pathway for improvement and change
- Gaining a positive and welcoming reputation
- Offering opportunities for shared learning
What are the next steps?
We’re working towards achieving excellence through our level of accreditation. This process involves an assessment of our policies, procedures and practices against the Welcoming Cities Standard to evaluate our current status and identify opportunities for future improvements. We’re focusing on advancing community leadership, social and cultural inclusion, economic development, learning and skills development, and civic development within all our places and spaces. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive action plan and a process to evaluate our cultural diversity and inclusion activities.
To create a more welcoming and inclusive city for our diverse communities, we’re supporting other initiatives like Refugee Welcome Zones and Racism. It Stops With Me. We’re also holding Nunga Week, Harmony Week, Refugee Week and Welcoming Week celebrations, as well as a range of cultural events and social programs.
Visit the Welcoming Cities website for more information about Welcoming Cities and the accreditation process.
If you’d like to be involved and work with us on advancing our efforts to become a more welcoming and inclusive city, get in touch with our Community and Cultural Development Team by calling 84056600 or email us at service@cityofpae.sa.gov.au
How to get involved
We welcome you to join the many cultural celebrations in our community to learn and share. Here’s how you can get involved:
Harmony Week
Harmony Week takes place in March each year and brings people together from many different backgrounds to celebrate diversity. We invite everyone in our community to join our Harmony Week activities, which range from cooking and art to languages and lectures. You can also explore other activities at our libraries and community centres.
Refugee Week
Refugee Week is an annual campaign by the Refugee Council of Australia, which takes place in June. We mark the week by hosting a wide variety of events and activities to showcase our community’s welcoming culture.
Welcoming Week
Each September, Welcoming Australia hosts Welcoming Week to promote the communities striving to be more welcoming places for migrants, refugees, people seeking asylum, international students and others. Welcoming Week brings together neighbours from all backgrounds to build strong connections and uphold the importance of building welcoming and inclusive communities for our shared future.
We acknowledge that Welcoming Week events in Australia are hosted on unceded First Nations lands, and we recognise the important role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples play in this annual celebration.
Wondering about Freedom
In May 2023, we presented a new exhibition at the Visitor Information Centre for South Australia’s History Festival. The stories of migrants and refugees came to life through storytelling and portraiture – and you can still enjoy reading these stories here. We’d like to thank the project’s participants for sharing their journeys with us.
Programs for culturally diverse residents
Visit the Lights Community and Sports Centre, Kilburn Community Centre and our libraries to learn more about local opportunities and programs for people from diverse backgrounds. You can find our language and cultural programs listed in our Programs and Activity Guide.
Read the Programs and Activities Guide
Userway tool
We use the Userway accessibility tool on our website. Click on the Accessibility icon from any page on our site to translate our web pages into over 100 languages.
Grants and supports
We offer a range of grants to support programs for cultural groups. Visit our grants for community groups page for more information.
Spaces for hire
Community groups can hire spaces for significant cultural events. Visit our spaces and places for hire page for more information.
Resources and services for new arrivals
ARA offers support to newly arrived communities and individuals, empowering them to participate actively in all aspects of life in Australia.
Visit their website or call 8354 2951
This Australian Government website provides information about immigration and citizenship.
Visit their website or call 131 881
The AMRC specialises in humanitarian and migrant settlement. They facilitate community capacity building and development for young people, women and other migrants, empowering them through training and employment initiatives.
Visit their website or call 8217 9500
The Reconnect Program offers one-to-one counselling and support for young people aged 12 to 18 who are experiencing difficulties that may cause family breakdown or homelessness.
Visit their website or call 1800 448 999
This community service agency provides assistance for people with disability, and those experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. They also support other people experiencing hardship, and they offer training and intervention services.
Visit their website or call 8405 6556
ShineSA’s clinics offer sexual and reproductive health services and counselling, as well as sexual and gender diversity support for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Visit their website or call 8300 5300
Sonder provides services to support people who are experiencing mental illness, alcohol and other drug use, homelessness, disability, employment and chronic disease.
Visit their website or call 8209 0700
This Adelaide-based crisis support centre works to prevent suicide and help people experiencing emotional distress.
Visit their website or call 13 11 14
1800RESPECT is a confidential information, counselling and support service for people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence.
Visit their website or call 1800 737 732
This service supports migrant women and children of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds who are in unsafe relationships or at risk of violence.
Visit their website or call 1800 800 098
MCCSA empowers people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to contribute to the economic, social and cultural landscape of South Australia.
Visit their website or call 8345 5266
This not-for-profit organisation, which is based in Adelaide, provides a diverse range of services and programs to support young people and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who are living in South Australia.
Visit their website or call 8323 6111
MYH is a free trauma-informed youth health service for vulnerable young people aged 12 to 25. The no-referral service works within the Health and Recovery, Trauma Safety Services (HaRTSS) of the Women’s and Children’s Health Network in Adelaide.
Visit their website or call 8300 7200
CAaSSA delivers a wide range of programs across aged care, addiction services, community participation, the NDIS, mental health, youth and community education. This not-for-profit organisation also promotes cultural connections through festivals and events.
Visit their website or call 8447 8821
This state-wide health service provides primary healthcare for refugees and people seeking asylum with complex health and psycho-social needs.
Visit their website or call 8237 3900
This free and confidential health service delivers care for women aged 16 years and over in welcoming, safe and culturally respectful places, without the need for referrals. The service offers domestic and family violence health care assessments and intervention, sexual and reproductive health care, therapeutic counselling, Aboriginal health programs and health checks, and access to specialised services.
Visit their website or call 8444 0700
The NDIS helps eligible people with disability spend more time in their communities with more independence and access to skills-building, jobs, volunteering and an improved quality of life. The NDIS also connects people with disability to services in their community.
Visit their website or call 1800 800 110
