to working with non-government bodies such as community centres, human rights organisations, local schools and tertiary education providers. In some instances, these initiatives are funded by local government, such as the work of a community education centre in Melbourne. The Melbourne Community Centre advised that Wyndham City Council provided $40,000 funding to enable them to run anti-racism initiatives in 2023, which provides 1.5 days of activities per week. This enabled the centre to focus on upskilling non-English speaking community members around what racism is and how to address it.60 Several councils mentioned the importance of the Welcoming Cities program as providing a key resource and meeting point for local government in addressing racism. One stakeholder advised they were a part of a working group that helped to run antiracism fora in the community. However, they also noted that while these were important conversations, they were an exercise in ‘speaking to the converted.’ Designated anti-racism personnel, networks and activities Some local government stakeholders identified the benefits of having designated strategies and personnel to address racism. Feedback from within the sector suggest that these strategies and personnel are not common but are effective where they are used. The City of Darebin has a dedicated Anti-Racism Officer position that sits within its Equity and Diversity division, as well as a current anti-racism strategy that builds on the original strategy that ran from 2010-2015.61 This initial strategy was developed in response to findings of the University of Western Sydney Challenging Racism Project 2011 national survey which demonstrated that levels of racism in the Darebin community were higher than the state average.62 This work is now integrated into the work of council generally to support broader initiatives around social cohesion and diversity. Other Victorian councils such as the City of Greater Dandenong council have also taken a proactive stance on addressing racism following a vote to install a range of ‘racism not welcome’ signs in the local government area (LGA) as part of the #racismnotwelcome campaign. This initiative was also taken up by Georges River Council, which joined the campaign along with 16 other NSW and Victorian councils and installed the signs in key locations across various suburbs in its LGA.63 In terms of collaborative efforts concerning local government, the Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Anti-Racism Working Group was identified as an important asset, formed in the aftermath of the international Black Lives Matter movement and early responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. The Working Group is comprised of 60 Melbourne Community Centre interview 61 City of Darebin (2012) op cit 62 City of Darebin (2012) Darebin Anti-Racism Strategy, Foreword, accessed 12 February 2024 63 RacismNOTWelcome (2024) Articles and Media Mentions, accessed 12 February 2024 39