Communities in Control and OurSay: May/June, 2012

In order for communities to survive and thrive, they must be in charge of their own destinies:

  • They must be given practical support to set their own priorities
  • They must be permitted to design their own approaches
  • They must own and create and implement their own solutions.

All levels of government - local, state and federal - have a role to play in understanding, accepting and responding to the Communities in Control principles.

In the lead-up to and during the 2012 Communities in Control Conference we invited the community to pose questions around this theme.

The top three questions were put to a panel of political experts appearing live at the Communities in Control Conference on May 29 (you can watch footage of the panel below).

Voting continued for two weeks after the conference, closing on June 20, 2012.

The top three questions (posted below) were forwarded to the relevant government departments and/or ministers with a request for an official response. We are also posting responses from government and other relevant bodies, as and when they are received.

1. "One in fourteen children in Australia is born without the capacity to gain, understand or use language. Without intervention they face a drastic future, so much so that 50% of youth offenders in this country have a serious oral language deficiency. Why, as a nation, are we not tackling the challenges that these children present us with?"
Posted by Bruce Grundy, 1176 votes, 22 comments


2. "Victorian Premier Ted Bailleu supports voluntary euthanasia. So do the overwhelming majority of Victorians (and Australians across all states and territories). Why isn't it law?"
Posted by Neil Francis, 831 votes, 29 comments


3. "How much influence are the young people of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition having on government views and policies?"
Posted by Aditi Chetty, 200 votes, 3 comments


You can read more questions at http://oursay.org/communities-in-control/.

Key dates:

  • May 15: Program opens - questions posed and voting begins on OurSay website
  • May 29: Live panel at Communities in Control (Melbourne, Victoria)
  • May 29-June 14: Voting continues
  • June 20: Voting closes and top three questions forwarded to government
  • August: Government responses posted on OurSay and Our Community websites

Communities in Control Conference 2012:
The OurSay Panel

Highlights from the panel discussion at the Communities in Control conference in Melbourne, May 28-29, 2012.

Featuring the host, Brett de Hoedt (Hootville), and panellists Fran Bailey (former Howard Government Minister), Stephen Mayne (governance expert and local government councillor) and John Thwaites (former Deputy Premier of Victoria).

The Questions:

  1. "Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu supports voluntary euthanasia. So do the overwhelming majority of Victorians and Australians across all states and territories. Why isn't it law?"
  2. "One in 14 children in Australia is born without the capacity to gain, understand or use language. Without intervention they face a drastic future, so much so that 50% of youth offenders in this country have a serious oral language deficiency. Why, as a nation, are we not tackling the challenges that these children present us with?"
  3. "Let's set up nursing homes for young people. Why isn't the government helping to make this happen?"