Who are we?

Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment (PLACE) is a national organisation that supports community-led approaches to social and economic challenges. PLACE is not a service provider. We are a support system – a hub for shared learning, partnership, and policy innovation. Our work is underpinned by a belief that communities know best what matters to them, and that long-term change starts with shared decision making and strong local leadership.  

We exist because top-down, onesize-fits-all approaches have consistently failed to meet the needs of diverse communities. Despite decades of effort, persistent disadvantage remains entrenched in many parts of Australia. Meanwhile, communities across the country are leading place-based initiatives that demonstrate different approaches built on genuine partnership and local ownership. What’s missing is the infrastructure to connect this work, elevate it in policy discussions, and remove the structural barriers that constrain it.  

PLACE offers an innovative way forward. We believe:  

• Communities know best what matters to them.  

• Local leadership leads to better outcomes.  

• Decisions should be made with communities, not for them. 

What is Place-Based Change? 

Place-based change refers to coordinated efforts to improve outcomes by aligning investment, decision-making and service delivery to the specific needs, strengths and aspirations of communities defined by geography. 

It starts from a simple premise: that while disadvantage is shaped by structural forces, it is experienced locally and therefore requires responses that are rooted in place. 

Through our engagement with communities across Australia we have heard a definition of this work informed by three principles: subsidiarity, accountability and partnership.  

Subsidiarity: Decisions should be made at the most local level possible, where people have the greatest knowledge of context and the strongest stake in the outcomes. In place-based work, this means shifting authority closer to community. This gives local leaders, organisations and residents the power to shape the services and systems that affect them. 

Accountability: Communities must be able to hold systems and services responsible. This requires more than consultation. It means building governance structures that embed community voice in decision-making, ensure transparency in how resources are used and create shared responsibility for outcomes.   

Partnerships: Complex challenges can’t be solved by one actor alone. Place-based change brings together governments, service providers, funders, and communities to work collaboratively, across siloes, sectors, and timeframes. To be effective, these partnerships must be grounded in trust, reciprocity, and shared purpose..  

Place-based approaches don’t seek to replace universal services. They seek to make them more equitable, more effective and more responsive. They recognise that a one-size-fits-all model, no matter how well-intentioned, will always fall short in a country as diverse and unequal as Australia. 

Place-based change is about governance, not geography. It’s about agency and equity: who makes the calls, whose voices are heard and whether systems are designed with real lives in mind.