What is a Safe City?
Under the World Health Organisation’s Safe Communities Initiative, cities can be accredited as a ‘Safe City’. To be accredited, communities must go above and beyond what is required by law to protect and promote the safety and well-being of their citizens. The main benefit of being accredited as a Safe City is having a context for building relationships, organising community intervention and achieving results.
The Safe Community initiative is different to other injury prevention and safety programmes, and the community plays the lead role. Creative methods of education and environmental change along with legislation and enforcement are important avenues for creating safety in a community.
Our next steps
We are working towards achieving reaccreditation at the end of the current five-year accreditation period. To help us get there, Council has received ACC funding to appoint a Safe Community Project Officer, Dr Kate Osto.
Kate’s role involves working with community organisations whose initiatives contribute to our Safe City accreditation, and promoting collaboration and resource sharing.