Gladstone Region engaging in action Together (GRT) is a community-led, place-based social change initiative with the vision of opportunity, equity, and quality of life for everyone in our community. As a community-led project, GRT includes everyone in the Gladstone Region. Individuals that have nominated for regular ongoing involvement make up a volunteer Leadership Group, volunteer Working Groups, and one paid support team called a ‘Backbone’ Team. If you are interested in supporting community wellbeing to be part of the solution, please get in touch - Everyone is welcome!

Gladstone has experienced growing disadvantage over the last 5 years through an increase in families with children on welfare or low incomes, developmental vulnerability of our children starting school, and children protection substantiation. If you would like to learn more about the evidence of Gladstone eligibility under the SPSP criteria of identified disadvantage and community readiness, view our History page.

The community in the whole Gladstone Region Local Government Area. While the focus is on early childhood, the work is for the benefit of our whole community.

Anyone who is interested in supporting the community wellbeing. There is no eligibility criteria or application process, however we do have a community developed set of values and behaviours that we engage with each other to ensure everyone is heard and respected. If you are interested in being involved, let us know!

Excellent question! Get in touch through our Contact page or view our Community Voice page to see the next location where we will be chatting to community. We would love to hear from YOU about how, when, and where you would like us to chat with you about your experiences, stories, or ideas.

A key part of the initiative is identifying capacity building opportunities that benefit everyone within the service system. GRT can work collectively with the service system to identify capacity building supports that assist our human service sector and enable increased outcomes for the community. The support could be training sessions or workshops on identified topics aimed at enabling continuous improvement of service delivery and cross-sector referral efficiencies or collaborations. What do you think would be most useful? Contact us to become part of the conversation.

No. GRT is not a peak body and has no authority in relation to compliance requirements or application for grants or funding. However, our community voice aspires to see reduced duplication and increased collaboration to optimise resources in our community.

GRT can support efforts for collaboration through facilitated discussions of stakeholders, providing logistical support with invitations, venues, facilitation, and capturing outcomes.

GRT is focused on intervention and strengthening works that reduce the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage at the root cause, in comparison to the continuing treatment of symptoms, for a more effective and sustainable solutions through systems change. This work requires open minds, creativity, and innovation and the courage to use trial and error along the way.

No. The aim of the initiative is to bring our community together, with our government partners, in a structured way through the Collective Impact Model to see where we can do better to achieve social change.

Our focus areas have been identified as: Our families have access to life’s basics, feel independent and have purpose Our children feel safe, happy and loved, growing up at home with their families ​Our children are starting school ready to learn and on track to thrive Learn more on our Focus Areas page.

Yes! As a community-led initiative, GRT belongs to all of us in the Gladstone Region. Feedback helps create a better future for our community. Submit your feedback on the Feedback page.

The Backbone Team roles and responsibilities were structured through guidance from other Stronger Places, Stronger People (SPSP) communities and Collective Impact initiatives across the globe.

The Leadership Group's role is to support the planning, prioritisation, and implementation of a co-designed community-led strategy and action plan.

The Leadership Group members come from a range of different backgrounds which include rich lived experience in a number of areas of disadvantage. Learn more about the Leadership Group on the Our Team page.

Data is an important part of telling the ‘right story’ of the Gladstone community. GRT intends to weave statistical data together with lived experience as shared through conversations with community. The Gladstone Region Wellbeing Data Hub will bring together wellbeing indicators across different sectors and make data more available to community in a way that it can be used by everyone to work together in making life better for everyone in the region.

Data agreements are being developed with government partners and sector stakeholders.

The success of GRT will be demonstrated in the measured outcomes it achieves for individual and community wellbeing. GRT will measure the following four (4) indicators that have been identified for annual reporting within the Stronger Places, Stronger People (SPSP) framework. Increase in number and proportion of: 1. Children 0-17yrs with at least one parent in full-time employment 2. Children 0-14yrs in stable accommodation 3. Children 0-5yrs attending high quality education and care Decrease in number and proportion of: 4. Children subject to a child protection substantiation Additional measures will also be identified and used to support the work locally and evaluate strategic outcomes.

All data is owned by the community and Gladstone Region Wellbeing Data Hub contributors, and stored in data centers that are physically located in Australia. The data in the Gladstone Region Wellbeing Data Hub is protected from unauthorised access, modification, or destruction by security methods and protocols, including; data encryption; authentication of platform managers; and fully de-identified data.