After extensive community consultation with our community and deliberative engagement panel throughout 2024, we drafted a set of key plans and strategies to guide Monash Council for the next four years and beyond and sought your feedback from March to May 2025.

These strategies and plans include:

• Our Community Vision to guide Council’s decision-making and respond to the community’s long-term aspirational needs.
• 2025-2029 Council Plan to set the strategic objectives, strategies and indicators that will guide Council towards supporting our Community Vision.
• Health and Wellbeing Plan to identify health priorities for Council to consider in future planning.
• Revenue and Rating Plan identifies the most appropriate revenue and rating approach for the Council to ensure financial sustainability.
• Asset Plan to set a framework for how we oversee and upkeep our infrastructure and other assets.

Consultation on the Finance Plan will take place separately in the coming months.

These plans will impact all residents in Monash as they guide the day-to-day operations of Council and shape our longer-term decisions. This includes the types of services we provide to the community, where and what capital works we undertake, which facilities we prioritise our investment in, and how we can best support the health and wellbeing of the community and environment.

Feedback was sought by Sunday 4 May 2025.

Consultation with our community is central to what we do at Monash. This can include asking locals what they want to see in an upgraded playground, working with residents to make sure Council projects are complementary to their neighbourhood, and asking people about the future use of our open space sites.

As an important part of Council’s planning, we asked you for your ideas, thoughts and aspirations to shape the future of Monash for the next four years and beyond. We then sought your feedback on the draft vision and plans.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to provide feedback online, at one of our listening posts, at our advisory committee meetings or through our deliberative panel.

You can find out more about this process and view the engagement summary, reports and deliberative panel recommendations below.

In August and September 2024, Monash Council coordinated a Community Panel to gather input from residents on several key strategic plans – including our Community Vision and Council Plan.

This panel was formed as part of the requirements under the Local Government Act 2020, which mandates Victorian councils to undertake deliberative engagement for the development of their Community Vision, Council Plan, Financial Plan, Asset Plan, and Health and Wellbeing Plan.

Over 100 people nominated to be part of the panel, and 19 people were randomly selected to form our Community Panel. Our panel met over four sessions to discuss and provide recommendations on these plans and ensure that the voices of the community were heard and considered in shaping the future of Monash.

The panel members were provided with detailed information from subject matter experts and results from recent community engagements. They engaged in in-depth discussions, critically analysed the information, and reached a consensus on key recommendations.

These recommendations were then presented to newly elected Councillors in early 2025 and were taken into consideration when drafting the strategic plans.

We thank our panel members for their time and expertise and supporting the development of these key strategies and plans that will shape the future of Monash.