Baw Baw Shire Community Panel

Expressions of interest for the panel opened on 29 October 2024 and closed on 8 December 2024.


When is the Community Panel happening?

The panel will participate in a series of workshops throughout March and April 2025.

  • Panel Workshop 1 - Wednesday 5 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 2 - Saturday 15 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 3 - Saturday 22 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 4 - Wednesday 2 April 2025


Why is there a Community Panel?

Under the Local Government Act 2020, local government areas must adopt or review a Community Vision with a minimum lifespan of 10 years and develop a four-year Council Plan based on its deliberative engagement practices.

Baw Baw Shire Council (Council) will conduct both broad and deliberative community engagement processes to inform and guide its strategic plans – which includes the Council Plan, Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, and Finance Plan.

The current Baw Baw Shire Community Vision was adopted in 2021 and was based on a 20 year plus timeframe, describing the community’s aspirations for the future of Baw Baw Shire. The vision was developed by a community panel.

Council is seeking guidance and recommendations to help Council focus on what is important to community, including health and wellbeing priorities, for the next four-years.

The deliberative approach will provide policy and decision-makers with a deep level of understanding of the community’s perspectives on Council’s role and what the key priorities should be for the next four years, through engaging with a diverse and representative sample of the community.

The end goal for Council is to be able to deliver a range of services that meet community needs in a financially sustainable way.

Council has engaged Capire Consulting Group (Capire) to design and deliver elements of the broad engagement, and design, deliver, and report on the deliberative engagement approach.


What is deliberative engagement?

A deliberation is a long and careful consideration or discussion. Deliberative engagement involves a group of community members who are recruited through a random selection process and are representative of the general population's demographics.

Participants are tasked with considering relevant information from multiple points of view about a public issue or a problem.

Participants discuss the presented information with one another - thinking critically, exchanging ideas, weighing up options - and eventually reach a group decision or come up with the recommendations to solve a problem.


Who is on the panel?

The Baw Baw Community Panel was created by community engagement recruitment specialist Deliberately Engaging. The goals for each demographic were set based on government data, including the Census. In addition to demographic goals, we set Ward goals as well to ensure people from across the Shire area were present. Panel members were selected based on a stratified random sample of the people who registered their interest.

Meeting the demographic goals depends on the diversity of the registrations and whether people are still interested and available when offered a place on the panel.

For some demographics we have more panel members than the number set in the goal. This is because every individual fits into multiple demographic categories, and to meet the goal for one, say age, may result in having more people in another, e.g. educational attainment or vice-a-versa. Where we have less than the goal number this may be because none of the people in that demographic were available or the mix of an individual’s demographics didn’t fit the ‘gap’ created by someone else not taking up their offer.

Where there are no pre-existing data for particular demographics, these are either:

  • estimated based on other data e.g. the number of residents who operate businesses in Baw Baw was calculated based on the number of businesses in Baw Baw and the number of residents, then doubled to ensure adequate representation; or
  • depend on the characteristics of people selected to meet known demographics.

The aim was for the Baw Baw Community Panel to have at least 40 members. Based on experience, we know that not everyone who accepts a position on the Panel will be able to participate, usually due to ill health (their own or a family member). For this reason, we set the recruitment goals to create an initial panel of 46 people. The infographic below details the demographic makeup of the Panel.


The below table shows a breakdown of various demographic data, the goals for the panel and the number of final registrations for each. The population proportions on and percentages are based off of Census data. The goals are then set, based on a panel of 46 members in order to match the population demographics as closely as possible.

*Those aged under 18 are not included, as they were not eligible to join the panel. Because of this, not all percentages will equal 100%.

Selection based on Census proportions rather than registration proportions

Mini-publics are selected based on Census data to reflect the community's diversity. If we were to reflect the proportions of those who applied, it wouldn’t reflect the community but rather those with the confidence and availability to participate. For example, there are always substantially more people who register for these sorts of processes who have completed a bachelor's degree or higher than other levels of educational attainment, even for communities where the bachelor level is the smallest proportion.

As you can see, the selection process to deliver a panel that is exactly reflective of every characteristic of the community is not a simple process. We have done everything possible to ensure the panel matches the diversity within the Baw Baw Shire community.

The panel process

The Community Panel will address a defined challenge or ‘remit’, which will guide the discussion and the recommendations you will produce as a group. The Panel’s remit is:

Sustainable. Healthy. Thriving.

This is the Baw Baw Shire Community Vision developed by residents in 2021.

To move us closer to that Vision, what should the priorities of Council be over the next four years and what outcomes would those priorities bring?

Through a deliberative process, they will share and learn from other panel members, review community feedback and hear from experts. Supported by expert facilitators, the panel will develop recommendations for Councilors on the priorities for Council to keep moving towards the Community Vision.

To protect individual privacy, Council is unable to publish a list of panel members. Individual members are free to let others in their community know they are on the panel.


Expected Outputs

During session four, the panel will finalise recommendations which will be documented and presented in the form of a report to be presented to Council.

At the end of the deliberative engagement, Council will provide a public response to the Panel's recommendations. This will contribute to the development of the next Council Plans, including the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, Financial Plan, Annual Budget and other strategic documents.

Expressions of interest for the panel opened on 29 October 2024 and closed on 8 December 2024.


When is the Community Panel happening?

The panel will participate in a series of workshops throughout March and April 2025.

  • Panel Workshop 1 - Wednesday 5 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 2 - Saturday 15 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 3 - Saturday 22 March 2025
  • Panel Workshop 4 - Wednesday 2 April 2025


Why is there a Community Panel?

Under the Local Government Act 2020, local government areas must adopt or review a Community Vision with a minimum lifespan of 10 years and develop a four-year Council Plan based on its deliberative engagement practices.

Baw Baw Shire Council (Council) will conduct both broad and deliberative community engagement processes to inform and guide its strategic plans – which includes the Council Plan, Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, and Finance Plan.

The current Baw Baw Shire Community Vision was adopted in 2021 and was based on a 20 year plus timeframe, describing the community’s aspirations for the future of Baw Baw Shire. The vision was developed by a community panel.

Council is seeking guidance and recommendations to help Council focus on what is important to community, including health and wellbeing priorities, for the next four-years.

The deliberative approach will provide policy and decision-makers with a deep level of understanding of the community’s perspectives on Council’s role and what the key priorities should be for the next four years, through engaging with a diverse and representative sample of the community.

The end goal for Council is to be able to deliver a range of services that meet community needs in a financially sustainable way.

Council has engaged Capire Consulting Group (Capire) to design and deliver elements of the broad engagement, and design, deliver, and report on the deliberative engagement approach.


What is deliberative engagement?

A deliberation is a long and careful consideration or discussion. Deliberative engagement involves a group of community members who are recruited through a random selection process and are representative of the general population's demographics.

Participants are tasked with considering relevant information from multiple points of view about a public issue or a problem.

Participants discuss the presented information with one another - thinking critically, exchanging ideas, weighing up options - and eventually reach a group decision or come up with the recommendations to solve a problem.


Who is on the panel?

The Baw Baw Community Panel was created by community engagement recruitment specialist Deliberately Engaging. The goals for each demographic were set based on government data, including the Census. In addition to demographic goals, we set Ward goals as well to ensure people from across the Shire area were present. Panel members were selected based on a stratified random sample of the people who registered their interest.

Meeting the demographic goals depends on the diversity of the registrations and whether people are still interested and available when offered a place on the panel.

For some demographics we have more panel members than the number set in the goal. This is because every individual fits into multiple demographic categories, and to meet the goal for one, say age, may result in having more people in another, e.g. educational attainment or vice-a-versa. Where we have less than the goal number this may be because none of the people in that demographic were available or the mix of an individual’s demographics didn’t fit the ‘gap’ created by someone else not taking up their offer.

Where there are no pre-existing data for particular demographics, these are either:

  • estimated based on other data e.g. the number of residents who operate businesses in Baw Baw was calculated based on the number of businesses in Baw Baw and the number of residents, then doubled to ensure adequate representation; or
  • depend on the characteristics of people selected to meet known demographics.

The aim was for the Baw Baw Community Panel to have at least 40 members. Based on experience, we know that not everyone who accepts a position on the Panel will be able to participate, usually due to ill health (their own or a family member). For this reason, we set the recruitment goals to create an initial panel of 46 people. The infographic below details the demographic makeup of the Panel.


The below table shows a breakdown of various demographic data, the goals for the panel and the number of final registrations for each. The population proportions on and percentages are based off of Census data. The goals are then set, based on a panel of 46 members in order to match the population demographics as closely as possible.

*Those aged under 18 are not included, as they were not eligible to join the panel. Because of this, not all percentages will equal 100%.

Selection based on Census proportions rather than registration proportions

Mini-publics are selected based on Census data to reflect the community's diversity. If we were to reflect the proportions of those who applied, it wouldn’t reflect the community but rather those with the confidence and availability to participate. For example, there are always substantially more people who register for these sorts of processes who have completed a bachelor's degree or higher than other levels of educational attainment, even for communities where the bachelor level is the smallest proportion.

As you can see, the selection process to deliver a panel that is exactly reflective of every characteristic of the community is not a simple process. We have done everything possible to ensure the panel matches the diversity within the Baw Baw Shire community.

The panel process

The Community Panel will address a defined challenge or ‘remit’, which will guide the discussion and the recommendations you will produce as a group. The Panel’s remit is:

Sustainable. Healthy. Thriving.

This is the Baw Baw Shire Community Vision developed by residents in 2021.

To move us closer to that Vision, what should the priorities of Council be over the next four years and what outcomes would those priorities bring?

Through a deliberative process, they will share and learn from other panel members, review community feedback and hear from experts. Supported by expert facilitators, the panel will develop recommendations for Councilors on the priorities for Council to keep moving towards the Community Vision.

To protect individual privacy, Council is unable to publish a list of panel members. Individual members are free to let others in their community know they are on the panel.


Expected Outputs

During session four, the panel will finalise recommendations which will be documented and presented in the form of a report to be presented to Council.

At the end of the deliberative engagement, Council will provide a public response to the Panel's recommendations. This will contribute to the development of the next Council Plans, including the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, Financial Plan, Annual Budget and other strategic documents.

Page last updated: 14 Apr 2025, 11:38 AM