How the Accreditation Portal works

Assessment Types

There are five different levels within the Welcoming Cities accreditation, each requiring different levels of evidence and assessment. A council may apply for the accreditation level they deem themselves to have the policies and programs to achieve. For a more detailed understanding of the accreditation process, please see the (link) Welcoming Cities Accreditation Manual.
There are six categories in the Welcoming Cities Standard and each one is comprised of a set of indicators. When undertaking an application councils must upload evidence of compliance with these indicators, there must be evidence provided that the indicator is represented in: policy, internally within the council and externally. If desired a comment may be added for any piece of evidence.

  • Committed

    A Committed council has submitted a letter of commitment to the Welcoming Cities network signed by the Mayor or CEO of the council.

  • Established

    An Established council has completed a self-assessment addressing the Leadership category of the Welcoming Cities Standard. This application reviewed and approved by Welcoming Cities.

  • Advanced

    An Advanced council has completed the first three categories of the Welcoming Cities Standard. The application is reviewed by an external assessor.

  • Excelling

    An Excelling council has completed all six categories from the Welcoming Cities Standard. This application is reviewed and scored by an external assessor.

  • Mentoring

    A Mentoring council has first completed the Excelling accreditation, completing all categories of the Welcoming Cities Standard. A Mentoring council has then applied to and been approved by the Welcoming Cities Standard Advisory Committee to be a Mentoring council.
There are six categories in the Welcoming Cities Standard and each one is comprised of a set of indicators. When undertaking an application councils must upload evidence of compliance with these indicators, there must be evidence provided that the indicator is represented in: policy, internally within the council and externally. If desired a comment may be added for any piece of evidence.
CategoryCommitted Signed Letter of CommitmentEstablished
Council
Self Assessment		Advanced Council Peer AssessmentExcelling
Council External
Assessment		Mentoring
Signed Letter
of Intent
1. Leadership category assessmentYYYY
2. Social and cultural inclusion category assessmentYYY
3. Economic development category assessmentYYY
4. Learning and skills development category assessmentYY
5. Civic participation category assessmentYY
6. Places and spaces category assessmentYY

Assessment Criteria

A council will become accredited if they score a minimum 80% compliance across all indicators in the required categories for their level. Compliance is measured with a score of 1-5 as follows:

  1. No compliance
  2. Low compliance
  3. Partial compliance
  4. High compliance
  5. Full compliance

A council’s score is calculated in the following manner:

  • Each indicator in each category will have score of 1-5, based on the compliance level of that indicator
  • The average score across indicators will create the score for the category
  • The average score across all categories will be the final score for the assessment

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