7 Snapshots of Success
Place-based initiatives look different in different places but what they have in common is the community in the driver’s seat. That means decision-making and resource allocation happens at the local level, in collaboration, to drive improvement in the lives of children and families. There are hundreds of these initiatives across Australia at different stages of development. Here are seven communities that are driving positive impacts and innovations across systems.
To discover more place-based initiatives you can explore PLACE’s website or Platform C’s map of initiatives.
Maranguka
Location: Bourke, NSW
Maranguka is a First Nations-led initiative supporting a unified and empowered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of Bourke, NSW to shape its own future so that their kids grow up safe, smart and strong. It brings community, services, and government together through a framework of self-determination and shared accountability. It is one of ten place-based initiatives supported through the Department of Social Services’ Stronger Places, Stronger People initiative.
Impact
- Reductions in youth contact with the justice system
- Increased school retention and attendance
- Influencing state and national justice reform and place-based policy and resourcing
- Restoration of community governance and cultural authority
Innovation
Australia’s first justice reinvestment site, shifting resources from crisis responses into prevention and opportunity through community-owned data and decision-making.
- Cross-Sector Leadership Group driving cross-sector collaboration
- Daily check-ins providing wrap around services for families in need
- Justice circuit breakers reducing young people’s contact with the justice system
- Palimaa Data Platform delivering Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Community
Yellowbelly Bourke is a First Nations youth – operated creative, powerhouse that sprang to life from a Nakama Arts music workshop and just kept growing, ideas bloomed into opportunities, and opportunities grew into a space unlike any other in Bourke. The barbershop, café and studio are hub for community, creativity, and pathways for the next generation.Our Place
Location: Ten sites across Victoria including Doveton, Frankston North and Carlton
Our Place enables thriving communities by integrating early years and schooling with wraparound services for children and families. The approach is co-designed with local communities to meet education, health, and social needs in one accessible hub.
Impact
- Improved school readiness and attendance
- Stronger family engagement in learning and wellbeing
- An approach that is informing state government education policy across several states
Innovation
Purpose-built community hubs anchored in local, state schools, designed as long-term infrastructure for family and child wellbeing.
- School governance model that is cross-sectoral and centres community voices
- Co-located early learning and primary
- A 10-year Philanthropic Alliance that provides flexible funding, reporting and collaboration
- Demonstration of how government, philanthropy and community can collaborate to innovate new ways of supporting people.
Community
When Belinda struggled for years to find support for her young son, Our Place, acting as the “glue” between families and services, provided the wraparound care that changed his life and restored Belinda’s confidence. The organisation’s focus is on identifying gaps early and improving children’s long-term educational outcomes by ensuring families aren’t left to navigate complex systems alone.
Mounty Aboriginal Youth & Community Services (MAYCS)
Location: Mount Druitt, NSW
MAYCS is an Aboriginal-controlled youth service enabling young people to lead solutions that protect and free them from harmful systems. As a justice reinvestment site, it is working to reduce youth incarceration and create pathways to safety, culture, and opportunity.
Impact
- Responding to young people’s requests to create an Aboriginal Community Controlled Youth Service, they sourced government funding to employ 12 local Aboriginal staff to deliver youth designed services.
- Developed a strategic plan with young people and strengthened institutional relationships with magistrates, police, and Youth Justice.
- Have developed advocacy grounded in lived experience and is influencing system actors and shaping policy reform.
Innovation
Mounty Yarns is a youth-led project that gathers the stories, expertise, and knowledge by and with Aboriginal young people with lived experience of the criminal justice system about the impact it has on them and their families. It reflects the experiences of young people living in Mt Druitt and the changes and solutions they want to see to create a better future for their families and communities.
Community
This poem was created by the Mounty Team to share their Story.
We need a change we need a different approach.
Lighting flames, making sure the embers are stoked
In a world where injustices need to be called out
Where systems don’t like us blackfullas
We stand tall, resisting the occupation.
Challenging systems so they stop stealing generations
We the jack of all trades, the keepers of connection
Stepping in for our Elders after years of protection
Alternative narratives and shifting the storylines
Walking through Country paying attention to the signs
In the face of injustice we bow down to no one
Surrounded by chaos we focus on getting shit done
We need to be that shift, focusing on that silver lining
Aunty Julie’s curry and rice, Mounty’s fine dining
Feeds us while we collectively call shit out
Standing together whilst we show them what our culture is about
We defend our stories and our lives
We are patient and strong and knowing
Working hard for change while Julie’s grandkids keep growing
Because we have much to do to keep our communities strong
Our matriarchs have taught us and held it down for so long
Take us on journeys of memories of how to influence in true ways
Using our skills and knowledge to make sure the system pays
From the other side of the levy down to the banks of the Mehi
From North St to Luxford Rd we hold our heads high
That despite their best efforts our culture has survived.
Logan Together
Location: Logan, Queensland
Logan Together is a Collective Impact initiative supporting children 0-8 years old. Logan Together listens to, walks alongside, and takes action with community. Their big goal is to give Logan children every chance to achieve their potential through Collective Impact and community-led leadership. Collective Impact means different groups working towards this big goal, keeping each other on track to make sure real change happens for Logan’s children. Their work is guided by their Three Pillars –First Nations First, Children at the Heart, Community Led.
Impact
Early evidence of impact for children and families includes:
- Increased access to antenatal care
- Increased rates of children developmentally on track
- Reduction in the proportion of children considered developmentally vulnerable
- Health-related quality of life improvements
Beyond the early evidence of impact for children and families, Logan Together is seeing improved social cohesion and systems conditions changing in health, child safety, and education as a consequence of shared decision-making and community leadership, including:
- Strong, inclusive communities
- Increased civic participation
- Heightened skills and capabilities
- Holistic model of care
- Healing and reconciliation
- Common understanding
- Self-determination
Innovation
Logan Together is pioneering community-led, culturally grounded systems change, with First Nations leadership, innovative early childhood approaches, and grassroots initiatives reshaping how children and families are supported including:
- A First Nations Community Plan for Self-Determination and a cross-cultural Equity Agreement
- Deeply cultural, re-imagined early childhood system and new metrics co-designed with community
- A workforce of deeply trusted and respected Community Connectors that smooth out transitions between systems and ‘hardly heard’ community members by providing wraparound health and wellbeing supports within the culturally safe environment of Community Hubs
- Community Hubs provide safe, cultural, relevant and accessible offerings in line with the community identified priority outcomes in Logan’s Collective Plan
- Strong civic leadership networks and community pride creating social cohesion as the most significant change identified in Logan.
Community
Logan Together welcomed over 36 leaders from both the Australian and Queensland Governments and philanthropic foundations to experience the heart of Logan through our Immersion Event – a powerful, on-the-ground journey into what community-led change truly looks like. Over two days, visitors stepped into the stories, strengths, and challenges of the Logan community – joining yarning circles with Gnirigomindala Karulbo, visiting Eagleby South State School, and engaging in honest conversations with community leaders. Watch their story here.
Burnie Works
Location: Burnie, Tasmania
Burnie Works is a collective of community, services, business, and government working together so that children, young people, and families in Northwest Tasmania can thrive. The initiative listens closely to community voices and partners with them to co-design solutions that address the region’s challenges and opportunities. Its vision is for Burnie to be a place where people are connected, capable, and confident about their future. It is one of ten place-based initiatives supported through the Department of Social Services’ Stronger Places, Stronger People initiative.
Impact
- Stronger collaboration across schools, services, and community networks to improve education and youth transitions
- More children engaged in learning and supported to succeed through targeted early years initiatives
- Families experiencing greater connection to services, reducing barriers to access and improving wellbeing
- Local residents empowered to take part in decision-making, ensuring community aspirations guide action
- Shared accountability through regular mapping and measurement, giving partners a clear picture of progress and what needs attention
Innovation
Burnie Works is influencing how systems operate across the region. By combining grassroots knowledge with cross-sector collaboration, Burnie Works is shifting the way decisions are made and resources are shared.
- Schools and training providers are aligning with industry to create clearer pathways for young people into work.
- Service providers are adopting joined-up approaches to family support, informed by lived experience and local evidence.
- Government partners are learning from Burnie’s collaborative governance structures, recognising the value of community-led priorities in shaping more effective policy and investment.
Community
Designed by community for community, The Canopy provides a safe environment for families to connect, participate in activities, and access services and information.
Hands Up Mallee
Location: Mildura, Victoria
Hands Up Mallee (HUM) is a community-led initiative in the Mildura region working towards a connected community where families matter and children and young people can thrive. By working together with community, government and service partners HUM harnesses local strengths, knowledge and leadership to create better outcomes for children, young people and families. It is one of ten place-based initiatives supported through the Department of Social Services’ Stronger Places, Stronger People Initiative.
Impact
Together with community and partners, HUM has:
- Built deeper trust and agency by authentically engaging Aboriginal people, families, and the wider community in shaping solutions
- Strengthened community-led governance, ensuring decisions reflect local voices and values
- Enabled genuine cross-sector collaboration, aligning resources and advocacy in ways that no single service could achieve alone
- Shared data, stories, and knowledge to strengthen local skills and help partners make better evidence-based decisions
- Invested in high-leverage initiatives such as youth program models, early years hubs, and COVID-19 outreach that shifted how services and government engage with and meet the needs of the community
- Shared learnings widely, influencing not just Mildura but the broader place-based change movement across Australia
Innovation
Hands Up Mallee’s collaborative model is influencing novel approaches and practices across systems and services.
- Local government has changed how it partners with the community for meaningful engagement, joint advocacy and co-design, leading to $6 million investment in a new integrated Early Years Hub in Red Cliffs, a lasting outcome of the power of community leadership
- Youth services are transforming how they engage young people, with councils and providers adopting co-design practices pioneered through HUM. This has led to practical shifts like, HomeBase modifying its hours, alongside broader changes that embed youth-centred, flexible approaches into everyday service delivery
- Health services adopted unique community-based, equity focussed outreach models, during COVID. This included taking vaccination and health care directly into neighbourhoods, partnering with trusted community leaders, and reshaping services to be more equitable and accessible.
Community
The Red Cliffs Project shows how families co-designed solutions to improve early childhood outcomes, leading to strengthened community connections and a successful $6 million funding bid for an Integrated Early Years Hub.
Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT)
Location: Arnhem Land, NT
Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT) was established in 2010 by Traditional Owners of the Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas to support their vision for healthy Country. Today, KKT serves as a shared resource to eight First Nations community-controlled organisations whose work spans 50,000 square kilometres of West and Central Arnhem Land: one of the largest Indigenous estates in Australia.
KKT is a philanthropic trust that supports people on Country by investing in biodiversity protection, fire and climate management, women rangers, bi-cultural education opportunities and the safeguarding of Indigenous culture.
Impact
- Strengthened traditional land and sea management across Arnhem Land
- Created meaningful on-Country employment, including opportunities for women rangers
- Invested in bi-cultural education that equips future custodians with both Indigenous and Western knowledge
- Supported community-controlled organisations to scale their work and deepen local leadership
- Safeguarded culture by embedding language, knowledge, and practice in everyday community life
Innovation
KKT has pioneered an Indigenous-led model of conservation financing that aligns ecological outcomes with cultural and community strength. By channelling philanthropic support into community-led projects, KKT demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge and collective governance can secure both healthy Country and thriving communities.
Community
What happens when communities take control of education? This short documentary looks at how a west Arnhem Land community’s decision to fight government policy and educate its children on-country a decade ago has achieved such success, it has captured the hearts and minds of other communities in the region. Watch Nawarddeken Academy’s film ‘Our Knowledge Grows.’
