Councillor James O’Shea wants new Toowoomba Regional Council body to represent region’s multicultural community

A desire to see the council better represent Toowoomba’s multicultural community is behind Cr James O’Shea’s push for a new advisory committee.

Cr James O'Shea

The Toowoomba Regional Council will form a new multicultural advisory committee this year, in a bid to ensure the organisation is representing the highly-diverse city.

Cr James O’Shea, who is one of the 20 per cent of residents with a parent born overseas, moved the motion at the TRC’s ordinary meeting on Tuesday.

With more than one in 10 residents born overseas (11.1 per cent) according to the 2016 census data, Cr O’Shea said the council lacked an advisory framework to better understand the needs of the region’s multicultural population.

“When we looked across the advisory committees, I felt perhaps this was an area where a committee was warranted,” he said.

“When you look at the population, 20 per cent of residents have at least one parent born overseas.

“The idea came after we spoke with people in the sector, and I floated what could be done to help with issues.

“The idea of an advisory committee is so we can get an understanding of what’s happening in the sector.”

Councillors will now participate in a workshop to develop the terms of reference with the results to be presented at a future meeting.