Our role in providing opportunities for emerging community leaders is critical in building community capability, promoting place-based responses and ensuring the viability of community groups, which are the heart and soul of small communities.

Without confident, skilled community leaders, these groups struggle to provide the activities and services that bring people together. Through building strong leadership knowledge, skill and capacity of emerging and established leaders in our region, our community can realise the social and economic benefits of collaboration and place-based solutions.

The Community Leadership programme has been supported by the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors, Greater Whitsunday Communities and the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund, as a pilot for our region. Steered with the guidance of a Think Tank group of regional leaders, the programme launched in March 2020 with a series of regional face-to-face workshops, online workshops (post COVID-19) and a comprehensive programme for twelve emerging leaders. This programme includes a mentoring programme, a community webinar series and a CQUniversity skill set.

The pilot programme will be independently evaluated, producing a set of recommendations to guide any future programme so that we can continue to invest in and invigorate community leaders from across this region.