Signs and civility
New ‘dog on leash, dog off leash’ signs have appeared at parks and beaches in Port Phillip. The signs are friendly, conversational, speaking directly to Port Phillip’s dog oriented culture – ‘good vibes only – help your dog greet people and pups respectfully’.
This sign has even been annotated for emphasis.
Signs used to be black and white. Well, black, red and white mostly, like this one outside the Port Melbourne Football Club where no dogs – or cats! – are allowed.
Council signs are now less likely to be peremptory, unless it is to alert people to danger. These signs do not show the same regard for pedestrians, as the new council signs do for dogs.
Printing directly onto corflute is cheap and easy. Signs can be targeted to an issue, event or a place. They pop up and disappear before becoming ignorable.
When there is regular, annoying or damaging behaviour in a public place, signs, and even more signs, are often seen as the solution. Whether they are effective in changing behaviour is less clear.
In a post Covid world, compliance with directions is less assured. Individuals assert their rights, rather than those of the collective. The President of the United States creates an enabling environment for others around the world by breaking rules and flouting conventions.
Now councils must entice, cajole, delight people into ‘doing the right thing’, whether it’s picking up dog poo or litter.
Local governments represent local communities. There wouldn’t be a council in Victoria that did not have a theme in its Council plan about the health and wellbeing of their communities.
In Port Phillip is it is expressed this way: a healthy and connected community which is supported by these statements.
- Our Council improves the health and wellbeing of residents
- Our City is a welcoming place that champions and embraces diversity
- Our Council fosters collaboration and mutual support within the community
- Our Community have stable, safe, and affordable housing
- Our City has fair and equitable access to services
It is all too easy to see these fine aspirations as generic and as ignorable as a council sign.
But budget, staff and resources are allocated to the plan which is reported against. It behoves us to take an interest in it.
On Sunday 17 January, on the eve of parliament convening to consider hate speech and gun law reform, two significant commemorations were held in the City of Port Phillip: for Raoul Wallenberg and Albert Jacka.
Jacka is best known for his bravery at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. He was the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross. He went on to serve as a Councillor and Mayor of St Kilda in 1929/30.He used the role to the full to support the unemployed, many of whom were former servicemen.
As we prepare for a 40 degree day tomorrow, consider this. At 2.30 pm on the day of Jacka’s funeral procession from Anzac House to St Kilda Cemetery it was 42.7 degrees. Still ‘Solid phalanxes of people stood bareheaded in the blistering sun’.
Raoul Wallenberg is recognised and remembered for his extraordinary and audacious courage in saving thousands of Jews in Budapest from certain death. An annual reading of what he accomplished is galvanising.
The Mayor of Port Phillip, Alex Makin spoke at both events. Makin is the grandson of a Polish Holocaust survivor who migrated to Australia with his mother (then a child) in 1958. He said the event reminded us all to acknowledge the bravery of those who stood up against hate.
Together with the Mayor of Glen Eira, Councillor Simone Zmood, Makin initiated a joint statement after the Bondi terror attack which includes this statement “Now more than ever our role as Councils is clear. to bring people together, promote social cohesion and build inclusive communities. We will continue to work every day to stamp out antisemitism and hate and to ensure our cities remain as places of safety, respect and belonging for all.”
The Mayor, Alex Makin, is now asking people to submit their ideas on what would contribute to social cohesion in
giving effect to that statement.
Diane Kalen-Sukra is on a mission to restore dignity and civility in public life. She defines civility as ‘the respect, consideration, and responsibility that citizens owe one another and the community they share’. She encourages ‘courageous citizenship’.
Civility begins at home, and in our community. Let’s practice it.
Read about the extraordinary
Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg Institute
Captain Albert Jacka. Jacka departed and returned from the War at Station Pier.
Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026
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