Inclusive engagement · Policy development · Intercultural practice
Intercultural Maribyrnong: participation shaping policy
Bringing community perspectives into policy and organisational practice, with attention to whose knowledge informs decisions.
Public records naming Alisha
Project context
- Organisation
- Maribyrnong City Council
- Context
- Inclusion Officer · 2019–2021
- Practice
- Inclusive engagement · Policy development · Intercultural practice
The challenge
Intercultural policy needs to move beyond celebrating diversity to consider how people participate, access services and influence the decisions that affect them. This requires both community engagement and work within the organisation.
Alisha’s contribution
During her Inclusion Officer role at Maribyrnong, Alisha designed and implemented the Intercultural Maribyrnong engagement plan and worked on policy and strategy development. She used the outputs of internal and external stakeholder workshops to develop the strategy, working with an engagement practitioner and Council colleagues.
Related organisational work
Her inclusion work also encompassed a review of language services, LGBTIQA+ programmes and partnerships, and a Gender Impact Analysis trial with recommendations reported to state government. These activities connected inclusive policy with the way services and programmes operate.
Local and international exchange
Alisha coordinated the Australasian Intercultural Cities network and represented Maribyrnong and the network at a coordinators’ meeting in Odesa, Ukraine. This connected local policy development with exchange across cities.
The contribution described here
Professional recommendations from her manager, engagement collaborator and international network colleagues document Alisha’s contribution during 2019–2021. Later published strategies sit within the broader history of Council’s work; this case study describes her contribution during that employment period.
Official information and sources
Public sources provide programme, policy and research background. The contribution described above is Alisha’s account of her experience; these links do not independently verify every personal contribution or imply organisational endorsement.
Contribution, evidence and limits
This account describes Alisha’s contribution in the project context identified above. Read the role credits and source links alongside the account. Prior Council employment and partner-led work inform Soft Infrastructure’s practice; they are not presented as new consulting commissions. Outputs and activities are described where documented. No additional measured outcomes or causal impact are inferred.