That’s a Listening Tour wrap!

202 expressions of interest. 79 days on tour. 53 places visited. 75 local initiatives. 12 staff on the road.

Yesterday, we concluded the inaugural Community Roadshow and Listening Tour with a hybrid Capstone event, broadcast live from Melbourne, featuring satellite gatherings in Perth and Brisbane, and a national audience joining online.

Thank you to guest moderator Brooke Boney, and speakers Sean Gordon AM, Luke Craven, Karyn Walsh, Rowena Mouda, Joselle Griffin and Daniel Daylight for sharing insights and leadership from across the country.

Over 12 weeks, the Tour was a national conversation hearing directly from people living the complexity of change every day.

📍 Northernmost visit: Galiwin’ku, NT
📍 Southernmost visit: Brighton, TAS
📍 Westernmost visit: Paraburdoo, WA
📍 Easternmost visit: Gold Coast, QLD

PLACE’s Listening Tour report reflects what we heard and what communities have long known:

✅ Trust, cultural grounding, local leadership, and backbone coordination are essential.
✅ Long-term investment, community-led data, and support for informal care make the difference.

But...

🚫 Short-term funding, compliance burdens, unpaid labour, fragmented systems, and token consultation continue to get in the way.

The opportunity is clear: Shift power. Fund stability. Recognise local authority. Act on what communities already know works.

Let’s stop asking if place-based change is possible and start backing it properly.

The Tour Report also introduces a four-layer model for systems that don’t stand above or around community, but walk alongside it. Systems that are universal in intent, responsive to place, and grounded in trust.

To the 202 places who expressed interest, and to everyone who hosted, welcomed, challenged, and shared with us, thank you. You didn’t just tell stories. You shared a blueprint for what’s possible.

Read the full report here: https://www.placeaustralia.org/tour-reports