Our West, Our Future: Building Community Power Together

Strengthening connection, trust, and our capacity to act together.

Across our communities, there is a growing recognition that lasting change depends on strong relationships, shared practices, and

places where people can work together across difference. Civil society doesn’t hold itself together by accident — it is built deliberately.

Get involved here

Many people are worried about the fracturing of social cohesion — a sense that we are becoming more divided, less connected, and less able to solve problems together.

At the same time, communities in Melbourne’s west are navigating rising costs, insecure work, housing pressure, long commutes and unreliable public transport. Too often, decisions about these realities are made far away from the communities most affected.

Layered onto this are the pressures of extreme weather, fires and floods along with other climate change impacts are testing how well we can care for one another.

Yet the west is rich with something powerful: deep cultural and faith traditions, unions and worker networks, neighbourhood houses, grassroots groups and everyday leaders who care fiercely about their communities.

What’s missing is not goodwill.

It’s a table big enough for us to act together — across difference — with the power to shape decisions that affect our lives.

What we are building

Our West, Our Future is nurturing a new Western Melbourne Community Alliance.

This alliance will bring together a broad base of multicultural and faith communities, unions, neighbourhood houses, community organisations and environment groups to work collectively for real, lasting change on the issues that matter in the west.

The aim is to create a sustainable, community-driven structure that can:

strengthen grassroots leadership
amplify culturally and linguistically diverse voices
influence decisions about how Melbourne’s west grows
help our region adapt fairly to a changing climate.

Together we will:

Build relationships across difference — the foundation of trust
Grow leadership inside our organisations
Listen for shared priorities grounded in lived experience
Act publicly together to win real outcomes
Strengthen our organisations for the long term.

This is not a single campaign or project.
It is a long-term way of renewing democracy — independent of party politics — that can hold our communities together in difficult times and help us shape a fairer future.

Who this is for

This alliance is for organisations who:

care about social, economic and climate justice
believe communities should shape the decisions that affect them
want to work with others beyond their usual circle
are willing to invest in relationships and shared practice

No prior experience is required – only a stake in your community and a willingness to learn with others.

The track record

Across Australia and around the world, alliances have won meaningful, long-lasting change by acting together:

Queensland Community Alliance secured $2 billion for renewable energy and community health
Real Deal Geelong has won improved transport access to jobs, major federal investment in social housing electrification and home batteries, and the retention of land for social housing in Greater Geelong
Hunter Community Alliance won transition support and job training during coal closures
Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga (Auckland) reshaped housing strategy with Pacific, Māori, and migrant leadership
Sydney Alliance achieved transport and education access for asylum seekers and with Renew Australia for All, won a 30% federal subsidy for home batteries, lowering energy bills and pushing for fair access for renters and social housing residents.
Citizens UK helped raise wages for 250,000 low-paid workers
One LA (USA) won $150 million for affordable housing in Los Angeles

These alliances show what becomes possible when organisations work together consistently over time.

Why Now?

The west is growing and changing rapidly. Inequality is rising. Environmental pressures are intensifying. Communities are feeling the strain — but are also showing enormous creativity, care and collective strength.

This is a powerful moment for organisations across the west to:

build relationships across difference
strengthen local leadership
shape a fairer, more connected future

Victoria has a long tradition of communities working together for justice. A broad-based community alliance builds on that history by creating a sustained, long-term way for organisations to collaborate and take collective action.

How You Can Get Involved

1. Book in for a conversation (contact details below)

A 30 minute conversation is the best place to start — to share stories, explore priorities, and understand how your organisation might connect to this work

Please email, Angela Ashley-Chiew a.chiew@environmentvictoria.org.au

2. Bring a delegation to the Werribee Assembly 15 September

Join leaders from across Melbourne’s west at the Our West, Our Future Werribee Assembly on 15 September 2026. Bring a group from your organisation and be part of building a stronger collective voice for our region.
More info here Our West, Our Future Werribee Assembly – organisation participation EOI