The Community Vision for the City of Melbourne was created as well as a Council Plan with a series of objectives in the hopes of influencing policy, plans and investments by working with people in the municipality who live, work, study, visit or own a business there.
Problems and Purpose
The Local Government Act 2020 required the creation of the Community Vision (ODIP, 2021). This resulted in consultation with hundreds of participants. It has been designed to communicate the long-term goals that the community has for the municipality. The Community Vision is comprised of two parts (City of Melbourne Community Vision and Council Plan, 2021) :
- A vision statement and narrative that describe the aspirations the community wants to see
- Community aspirations, these describe the community’s needs behind the Vision statement as well as a ‘call to action’ to guide Council planning
The Council Plan is a series of objectives over the course of four years in response to the Community Vision. Their objectives include: economy of the future, Melbourne’s unique identity and place, Aboriginal Melbourne, climate and biodiversity emergency, access and affordability, and safety and wellbeing (ODIP, 2021).
Participants were tasked with identifying and prioritizing seven theme areas for the future of the municipality (City of Melbourne Community Vision and Council Plan, 2021).
In the future, Melbourne is…
- Is healthy and safe
- Considers climate change in everything we do
- Is a vibrant and unique meeting place that attracts people, talent and investment
- Has a strong economy for everyone
- Leads in the use of technology to make our city better
- Is inclusive, accessible and affordable
- Involves the community as it recovers and changes
Background History and Context
After the Local Government Act 2020, the City of Melbourne took on a period of deliberative engagement in March 2021. The Local Government Act 2020 replaced the former Local Government Act 1989. This Act applies to local councils in the state of Victoria. It was designed with a “principles-based” approach. The principles that guided the development of the Act include: community engagement, public transparency, strategic planning, financial management and service performance (Julian Ryan, 2020).
During the deliberative engagement period in March 2021, over 750 participants had the opportunity to engage and help develop a 10-year Community Vision and a four-year Council Plan. This is not the first time Melbourne has engaged in deliberative processes, as the “People’s Panel” of 2014 was the first (City of Melbourne Community Vision and Council Plan, 2021), (City of Melbourne People’s Panel, 2020) .
The Community Vision framework was also influenced by the 2020 COVID-19 Reactivation and Recovery Plan by the City of Melbourne as community members were presented with the same community aspiration themes that came from the COVID-19 Reactivation and Recovery Plan (City of Melbourne Community Vision and Council Plan, 2021).
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The City of Melbourne’s Financial Plan 2021-31 has allocated $5.9 billion over ten years on total operating expenditure and $2.2 billion over ten years on total capital expenditure to help achieve the Community Vision (City of Melbourne, 2021). There are no specific figures on how the expenditure has or is being applied to the Community Vision outside of the statement on their Financial Plan. Due to the City of Melbourne funding the Community Vision, the municipality would have also aided in organizing and supporting this process. Participate Melbourne was used as the main source for community members to learn and participate in the activities for the Community Vision (City of Melbourne, 2021)
Participant Recruitment and Selection
In alignment with the Local Government Act 2020, the city of Melbourne created a deliberative community engagement space through a rigorous recruitment process. This was to ensure that it was inclusive and representative of the city of Melbourne. The intention was to capture the plethora of voices that constitute the people who live, work, study, visit and own businesses inside the municipality (City of Melbourne, 2021). The total number of participants for the deliberative engagement process was over 750. They were engaged through a variety of channels that reflected the diverse cultural and socioeconomic demographics of the city of Melbourne.
The selection process was exhaustive, the participants were selected through online calls for expressions of interest, alongside that most through community outreach networks, partnerships with local organizations and advocacy groups. The recruitment strategy also prioritized geographic representation. There were targeted demographics in the deliberative engagement process as well, which emphasized the inclusion of under represented and marginalized groups. The targeted workshops had about 80 participants in them. From Traditional Custodians from the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, Boon Wurrung, and Bunurong communities to Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLAD) communities were included. All participants included: 96 People who identify as LGBTIQ, 11 People who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, 36 Children and youth (under 18), 102 Young people (18-25), 5 People with lived experience of homelessness, 39 People with People who own Spoke languages English at home, 114 Students, 90 People over 65 years old (OIDP, n.d.). They are incorporated people with disabilities and children and youth aged 7–25, individuals with lived experience of homelessness. This targeted approach showed the municipality’s commitment towards inclusion, reconciliation and accessibility in governance.
Four neighbourhood workshops were hosted across distinct localities of the municipality which had about 72 participants, supplemented by nine in-person intercept survey sites which included 411 participants, ensuring a mix of voices that spanned both central and suburban areas of Melbourne. Lastly there were about 192 participants from the online surveys as well (City of Melbourne, 2021). This was the total breakdown of the 750 participants in the community vision plan. This approach reflected a deliberative model intended to balance expert input with experiential local knowledge, thereby enhancing the legitimacy and depth of the resulting vision statements.
Methods and Tools Used
The municipality created a central digital engagement platform that facilitated the primary engagement process called “Participate Melbourne”. They employed a multi-modal engagement process that included both qualitative and quantitative methods in the survey. There were also 12 deliberative forums/workshops and nine surveys which were held in person in March 2021. This use of mixed methods allowed for triangulation of data and cross-validation of emerging themes.
The main engagement instruments that were incorporated in the forum included:
Online surveys which had around 192 participants and it gathered community priorities and allowed for larger participation as there were COVID-19 restrictions during that time. There were about 411 participants for the intercept surveys that were conducted at nine public locations targeted to reach residents and workers who may not typically engage in policy processes. Then there were neighbourhood workshops with about 72 participants that had more structured in-person discussions which was facilitated by the city staff on seven thematic aspiration areas. Lastly, the city conducted targeted workshops which focused on inclusion of under heard communities in the city. It provided the space for them to articulate their concerns in an accessible and culturally sensitive setting (City of Melbourne, 2021).
Participants were invited to rank priorities, provide open-ended commentary, and propose “big ideas” for the future of Melbourne. The data was analysed through statistical aggregation and thematic synthesis of qualitative insights. This mixed-methods analysis produced a holistic understanding of the community’s aspirations. The Participate Melbourne platform also functioned as a feedback loop, allowing participants to track project developments and ensuring transparency throughout the engagement cycle (Council Plan 2021–25 | City of Melbourne, 2021).
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Following the disruptions of the COVID 19 pandemic, in March 2021, the deliberative engagement phase took place which included the facilitated workshops. These workshops nurtured reflective dialogue amongst participants about the city’s recovery, sustainability and social cohesion. The participants were encouraged to to consider not only what they valued about Melbourne but also the long-term challenges facing urban governance.
Each engagement activity revolved around seven core aspirations emerging from the COVID-19 Reactivation and Recovery Plan: creating a city that is healthy and safe, inclusive and accessible, climate-conscious, technologically innovative, economically strong, vibrant and culturally distinct, and community-driven (City of Melbourne, 2021).
The participants were having collaborative interactions that were structured into group prioritization exercises and small cohort deliberations. The seven aspirational themes that were put forward by the staff to the participants were evaluated and additional themes were also proposed such as enhanced green infrastructure, waste reduction, improved public safety, and affordable housing initiatives. There were 15 community insights and aspirations statements that were created as a result of participant discussions. These included commitments such as “people feel safe in the city”, “health and wellbeing is prioritised” and “urgent actions on climate change are taken” (City of Melbourne, 2021).
The inclusion of digital accessibility and in-person facilitations resulted in an inclusive engagement space in spite of the COVID 19 restrictions. These participatory outputs were then integrated into the municipalities’ policy making infrastructure that reinforced citizens' trust in democratic legitimacy. This ensured that there was continuity from the deliberation amongst the participants to institutional planning. To note, there was little to no media coverage other than the reports published by the municipal government about the Council Plan.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The Melbourne Council Plan 2021-25 included six strategic objectives: (1) Economy of the Future, (2) Melbourne’s Unique Identity and Place, (3) Aboriginal Melbourne, (4) Climate and Biodiversity Emergency, (5) Safety and Wellbeing, and (6) Access and Affordability (Council Plan 2021–25 | City of Melbourne, 2021.) . These objectives were used to direct the community engagement that was facilitated by the city of Melbourne. Through the deliberation process with these objectives guiding the discussions, came about 15 community aspirations that inform the development of the 10 year community vision and four year council plan. The engagement process also shaped the City of Melbourne’s alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the Voluntary Local Review 2022, the City embedded these global objectives into its local planning cycle, translating community priorities such as housing equity and inclusivity, into internationally recognized sustainability benchmarks. These were the initiatives that were the outcome of this process: ( 1) Power Melbourne, a city-wide renewable energy program supporting the transition to 100% clean electricity by 2030. (2) Make Room, an affordable housing and homelessness initiative designed to expand short-term supported accommodation.( 3) Inclusive Melbourne Strategy, promoting equitable participation across cultural, gender, and socioeconomic lines. (4) Annual Performance Scorecards, integrating SDG indicators to monitor progress and enhance accountability (Voluntary Local review | City of Melbourne, 2022.).
Overall these actions capture the feedback loop between public participation and institutional reform. This not only legitimized the city’s democratic capabilities but also created concrete policy priorities that reflect the communities’ desires. This demonstrated how deliberative engagement can produce both normative and practical value in urban governance. By embedding community voice within long-term sustainability and inclusion frameworks, Melbourne has positioned itself as an international exemplar of participatory policy design and adaptive local governance.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
From participatory and deliberative processes such as this, everyday citizens can have an impact on the place they live in. Everyday citizens can work together to influence the policies that are created in their cities. The Community Vision Plan is an ongoing process so there is still further analysis that can be done once this ten-year vision actualizes itself.
Participatory and deliberative processes that involve a region’s citizens are becoming more and more frequent and are having various impacts on policy, such as this one. The Community Vision Plan comes after the People’s Panel of 2014, showing that Melbourne has had success in participatory and deliberative processes in their municipality. The City of Melbourne has begun to undertake another project, M2050, where they engaged in community consultations once again.
See Also
References
10-Year Financial Plan | City of Melbourne. (2021). City of Melbourne. https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/10-year-financial-plan#:~:text=Achieving%20the%20Community%20Vision%20through,to%20be%20an%20affordable%20city
City of Melbourne. (2021). Community Vision and Council Plan 2021–25 Community Engagement Summary. https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.com-participate.files/8516/2190/9692/Community_Vision_Phase_1_Community_Engagement_Summary.pdf
City of Melbourne. (2022). VOLUNTARY LOCAL REVIEW. In melbourne.vic.gov.au. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/vlrs/2023-06/vlr_melbourne.pdf
City of Melbourne People’s Panel – Participedia. (2014, July 1). https://participedia.net/case/4372
Council Plan 2021–25 | City of Melbourne. (2021). City of Melbourne. https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/council-plan
OIDP. (n.d.). https://oidp.net/en/practice.php?id=1318
The Local Government Act 2020 (Vic) - Lexology - FAL Lawyers - Julian Ryan (2020, December 3).
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=09ac6224-94cc-48d8-89b7-ac7d271a851f
