A lottery has selected 53 residents to act as a community voice to advise Sunshine Coast Council on important issues facing the region.
The first task for the region’s first Citizens’ Panel will be to explore one of the biggest and most complex issues for the council: budget and services.
The council established the panel to hear directly from a broad cross-section of the community, including voices that are often under-represented in traditional consultation.
Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the panel marked an important new way for council to listen, learn and make better-informed decisions.
“This council really wants to listen to our community in a genuine way,” Cr Natoli said.
“By creating a panel that reflects the diversity of our community, across criteria like age, gender and geography, we make space for perspectives that might not otherwise be heard.
“It is a fresh and fair approach that ensures we hear the real experiences of people across the Sunshine Coast.
“I would like to thank everyone who put their hand up to be involved.”
More than 340 residents out of 10,000 randomly selected households across the region responded to council’s call to join the panel.
Registrations were sorted by demographic information such as age, location, education and housing tenure.
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The final panel of 53 members was then selected by lottery to reflect the makeup of the region’s population.
Recruitment was managed independently by the Sortition Foundation, experts in citizens’ panel processes.
The panel came together for the first time at a meet and greet earlier this month, before beginning its first deliberative session in October.
Over the coming months, the panel will receive detailed briefings, consider evidence, discuss trade-offs and then provide advice for council to consider.
That advice will be considered alongside feedback from other consultation activities, including council’s Have Your Say website and community pop-ups.
Cr Natoli said the process would give council high-quality insights that could not be achieved through other consultation activities.
“When people from different walks of life learn together, weigh up information and share experiences, the advice they produce is thoughtful, balanced and incredibly valuable,” she said.
“I am looking forward to the Citizens’ Panel’s deliberations on budget and services, a challenging topic.”
The panel will continue to meet regularly over the coming months.
