Announcing our inaugural Community Council
5 May 2025
At PLACE, we believe that communities are the experts in their own lives and that lasting change happens when they are at the centre of the decision-making. That’s why we are proud to introduce our inaugural Community Council, a new and powerful mechanism to ensure community leadership, insight and experience is at the centre of everything we do.
Why a Community Council?
In place-based work, communities are usually involved in making things happen on the ground, but they’re not always part of the decision-making. At PLACE, we’re changing that in the way we work at the national level.
The Community Council is a core part of our governance structure. More than just an advisory group, it is a formal mechanism that ensures community-led practice is not just a term we use, but is embedded in our leadership, strategy, and accountability.
The Council will help keep us aligned with what communities need, want, and value most. Council members will provide strategic advice, shape how we understand and measure success, and co-design the structures that will support place-based work into the future.
Members of the Community Council will:
Provide strategic advice to PLACE’s leadership and Board.
Review and give feedback on PLACE’s activities, direction, and impact.
Participate in shaping our approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning, making sure it reflects what communities value.
Support the selection of future Council members and co-design the enduring model of community governance.
Importantly, the Council is directly connected to our Board. The Chair of the Community Council will also serve as Chair of Place’s Nominations Committee and sit on the Activity and Evaluation Committee, ensuring community leadership is part of PLACE’s most critical decisions.
This is about more than representation, it’s about shifting where power sits, and ensuring that those most affected by place-based work are also helping shape it.
Meet the Council members
We’re delighted to welcome seven outstanding leaders from across Australia as members of our first Community Council:
Joanne Martin (Chair) – Executive Officer, By Five Early Years, Horsham, VIC
Ian Trust – Executive Chair, Wunan Foundation and Empowered Communities Leaders Group, Kununurra, WA
Patrick Sharpe – Partnerships & Research Manager, Far West Community Partnerships, Ceduna, SA
Elly Bird – Executive Director, Resilient Lismore, Lismore, NSW
Armani Francois – Ranger, Central Land Council, Mparntwe Alice Springs, NT
Christine Kamau – Community Development Worker, ac.care and Communities for Children, Murraylands, SA
Amy Robinson – Executive Officer, Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project, Shepparton, VIC
We are especially pleased to have Joanne Martin serving as Chair of the Council and taking on an important leadership role in PLACE’s broader governance. Joanne brings deep experience in early years place-based work and a strong commitment to community-led change.
“Communities bring such a wealth of knowledge about what works, what matters, and how change happens. It’s a privilege to be part of a group that will help place this insight right at the centre of Place work.” - Joanne Martin, Chair, Place Community Council
A new chapter for PLACE
The establishment of the Community Council is a key milestone for PLACE. It signals our commitment to ensuring community voice, leadership and accountability are central to everything we do, from the very beginning.
Over the next 12 months, the Council will help lay the foundations for their long-term role. They’ll define how they work with PLACE’s leadership, Board, members and partners; shape how the Council operates; and contribute to the development of a governance model that can grow with PLACE well into the future.
We look forward to walking alongside them, and building a future where community-led governance is not just the exception, but the norm.