A peoples assembly for our shire

The big idea: lets establish a people's assembly or our area.

A people's assembly is like a ‘community jury’: local people, selected by lottery, who come together to learn about a complex issue, talk it through, and come up with recommendations for decision-makers.

Like jury duty, but for community decisions.

Councils and governments can only go so far on their own. People's Assemblies create space for rich discussion, diverse viewpoints and sharedproblem-solving. We want it to be a resource our whole community can draw on.

What we're aiming to do

- Recruit a broad, representative panel of community members

- Design and run a community-led people's assembly on a topic important to our community

- Support the participants with training in things like: managing disagreement, self awareness, reaching consensus

- Share what we learn with Council, our community, and other towns facing similar challenges

Why it matters

- Provides a means to solve a tricky issue with voices from all of our community

- Brings in voices not usually heard in decision-making

- Shows that diverse residents can work well together, even when they disagree

- Builds trust and connection across our community

- Creates a model for tackling future big questions, locally and beyond

How is it funded? 

Mount Alexander Shire Council has provided a small community grant, a charity organisation called Nurturing Evolutionary Development(www.ned.org.au) has provided a substantial grant, while Groupwork Centre (www.groupwork.com.au) is providing pro-bono training for participants. Two local residents have generously donated funding to the project.

We are currently seeking the final funding support we need to get the project off the ground.