The Inclusive Greater Bendigo Strategy is the City's long-term plan for making Greater Bendigo a place where everyday life works for more people.

It focuses on helping people feel welcome, safe, respected and able to take part in community life. It also guides how the City makes decisions so fewer people are left out.

The Foundation Action Plan is the first two-year plan that puts the Strategy into action.

It outlines the practical steps the City will take between 2026 and 2028 to help make Greater Bendigo more inclusive.

Everyone experiences Greater Bendigo differently.

The decisions the City makes affect things many people use every day, such as parks, buildings, services, information, events and community spaces.

This Strategy aims to help these things work better for more people.

Inclusion means making sure more people can take part in community life.

This includes being able to access services, use public spaces, get information, feel safe, be heard and participate in the community.

It recognises that people have different experiences, needs and circumstances.

Inclusion is not a separate service. It is part of how the City plans, designs and delivers its work.

The City makes decisions about roads, footpaths, waste services, parks, buildings, community facilities, information, events and services that people use every day.

People do not all experience these things in the same way. What works well for one person may create barriers for another.

The Inclusive Greater Bendigo Strategy helps the City consider different experiences and needs when making decisions, so services, places and information work better for more people from the start.

In the past, the City had separate plans for different groups and communities.

Through the Council Plan deliberative engagement process, focus groups, targeted engagement with communities, and feedback from Council advisory groups, we heard a consistent message: people are not just one thing.

Community members told us they wanted an approach that recognised both the differences and the common ground across our community. Many people felt that focusing on a single group at a time did not reflect how people actually experience life.

A person may be a parent, a carer, a volunteer, a young person, an older person, a person with disability, or have many other experiences at the same time. These experiences can also change throughout life.

This Strategy brings those conversations together. It helps us recognise what people have in common – and their strengths – while still responding to specific barriers and needs where they exist.

People do not all experience Greater Bendigo in the same way.

Some people experience barriers more often because of their age, disability, cultural background, identity, caring responsibilities, where they live, or other life circumstances

The Action Plan includes actions that benefit the whole community, as well as actions that respond to barriers experienced by particular people or communities.

There is no single ‘typical’ person.

People live, work, communicate and participate in different ways. When these differences are considered early, decisions are more likely to work well for a wider range of people.

This helps reduce barriers before they happen and creates a community that works better for everyone.

No.

Many inclusive practices are already part of the City's everyday work.

The Action Plan focuses on new actions, priority actions and areas where more change is needed.

We are asking for feedback on the draft Action Plan before it is finalised.

Your feedback will help us understand whether the actions are clear, whether they focus on the right issues, and whether anything is missing. Feedback will be reviewed and considered before the Action Plan is finalised.

The Foundation Action Plan covers the period from 2026 to 2028.

A new Action Plan will be developed every two years to support the longer-term Strategy.

We will review and consider community feedback.

The final Action Plan will then be prepared and shared with the community.

We will report on progress through annual Community Check-ins.

A Community Check-in is an annual update on the Inclusive Greater Bendigo Strategy and Action Plan.

It shares progress, highlights examples of inclusion across Greater Bendigo, and celebrates what is working well.

Check-ins may be shared in different formats, such as reports, videos or podcasts, and will include opportunities for community feedback.

The Scanlon Index is a measure of how connected people feel to their community. It looks at things like belonging, trust, acceptance and participation.

The Index is created using results from a national survey of people across Australia.

The City will use Scanlon Index results alongside community feedback and Community Check-ins to help measure the impact of the Inclusive Greater Bendigo Strategy over time.