We are bringing together a panel of people that is representative of our community to have in depth conversations about the future of Monash and your aspirations. We expect this panel to be approximately 20 people.

The panel will work closely together to review the Community Vision and contribute to our key strategic plans.

A Community Panel is a group of people who will sign up to share their ideas about the future of Monash. Through a deliberative engagement process the panel will provide input and feedback to review and make recommendations on Monash's existing Community Vision as well as the below key strategies and plans:

• 2025-2029 Council Plan
• 2025-2029 Health and Wellbeing Plan
• 2025-2034 Financial Plan, including Revenue and Rating Plan
• 2025-2034 Asset Management Plan
• 2025-2026 Annual Budget.

Thank you to the close to 100 people who put in a nomination to be part of our Community Panel, this great response allowed us to have a group of people put themselves forward who reflect the diverse community that is Monash.

In the coming week, we'll be going through a process to finalise nominations we received and approach people to confirm their continued availability and interest in being involved in the final Community Panel.

Participants will be compensated for their time and input, and we expect the panel to meet four times across from August to November - with a mix of online and in-person sessions.

We understand that taking part in the panel will be a commitment of time and we also hope to gain a lot from your experience, background, interests and thoughts. Community panel members will be compensated with a $100 Coles Myer gift card for all community panel sessions they attend.

Panel members meet and work from the wide range of backgrounds and lifestyles that make up Monash. You’ll hear from speakers on topics and discuss issues in small groups. Facilitators will make sure everyone has their say. You don’t need any prior knowledge – we’ll provide all the information you need. We're also appointing an experienced and independent consultant to help us oversee this process.

We expect that there will be four sessions with the community panel across August to November later this year. With a mix of in-person and online sessions likely. Once we've confirmed the panel we'll confirm preferred dates with the group.

No.

The panel is open to anyone with a connection to Monash aged over 16, with parent or guardian permission required for anyone aged 16 or 17.

The following people are not able to be panel members: Council staff, current Councillors, or anyone running as a candidate in Monash in the upcoming local government elections. Family members of these groups are also not able to be panel members.