Quantitative and qualitative information about diversity and intercultural relations in the Australian city of Salisbury is used to inform the City Council’s process of policy formulation.
The Council holds subscriptions to a demographic tool which helps extract, navigate and analyse the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. The tool is a dedicated statistical website, called ID.Community[1]. Social planners gather and analyse demographic statistics to inform all relevant policy. Demographic characteristics include data on ethnicity, language, migration, employment, family composition and education. This information is central to the development of the City Plan 2030 which overarches all strategic documents developed by the City Council. A concrete example for the use of this information is the Communication Strategy which encourages the communication with the representatives of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Additionally, an annual Community Perceptions Survey is conducted by an external organisation with a random sample of 600 residents.
In conclusion, it can be said that, because of the statistics, the Council policies are tailored for the characteristics of local communities.
[1] The community profile of the City of Salisbury can be found here: https://profile.id.com.au/salisbury
