What makes a deliberation work? How do people with different views tackle big decisions together? Between 2024 and 2025, our facilitators have delivered (or are in the middle of delivering) nine deliberative engagement processes and two standing panels across three Australian states. Along the way, they've been filming exclusive sneak peeks of the panels at work, providing first-hand insights into what really goes on behind the scenes of a deliberative process. Let’s dive in!
CASE STUDY: NATIONAL MODEL FOR SPIRITUAL CARE IN HEALTH
How do you bring stakeholders from across Australia together to shift how spiritual health is embedded in our healthcare system? MosaicLab partnered with the Spiritual Health Association to design and facilitate an engagement process that helped shape the country’s first National Model for Spiritual Care in Health. The model was piloted in 21 hospitals and health services, including a national health service. After the pilot, sites conducted audits to assess its impact on spiritual care, staff awareness, and patient experiences. The results were published in an evaluation report released in late 2024, offering key insights from this national initiative.
CASE STUDY: CITY OF MELBOURNE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PANEL
The City of Melbourne views affordable housing as crucial infrastructure for maintaining a liveable, inclusive, and prosperous city. With a projected shortfall of 23,200 affordable homes by 2036, immediate action is needed to address this long-standing issue. While there is broad community support for affordable housing, acceptance often wanes at the neighbourhood level. To tackle this, a People’s Panel of 39 diverse community members was established to represent local perspectives.
CASE STUDY: THE TALE OF TWO ENERGY SECTOR CUSTOMER PANELS
How should we plan for the new energy future while providing affordable services that meet changing customer and community needs? Two representative ‘Voice of the Customer’ panels in Queensland answered this question. Randomly selected, everyday customers deliberated and agreed on recommendations that electricity distributors Ergon Energy Network and Energex used to prepare Regulatory Proposals for the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). Delve into a tale of two deliberative customer panels, and gain ideas and insights you can draw on for your next project.
CASE STUDY: Jemena
Jemena Electricity Network has been implementing a comprehensive engagement program for the organisation's 2026-2031 Regulatory Proposal, employing a multi-dimensional approach to allow customers direct influence over proposed future pricing and services. MosaicLab codesigned and lead the facilitation of the process, that included a deliberative panel and brings diverse customer, stakeholder, and industry perspectives into the decision-making process.
CASE STUDY: AUSGRID VOICE OF COMMUNITY PANEL
As part of the development of Ausgrid's 2024-2029 regulatory submission, two randomly selected customer panels deliberated over a collective 10 full days. The panels, facilitated by MosaicLab and Gauge Consulting, considered how Ausgrid should look to the future while remaining fair to customers today. Ausgrid's three-year engagement process allowed customers to influence what Ausgrid spends customers money on, giving them a rare insight and influence over the cost of electricity, an issue that directly impacts the lives of everyday people.
COUNCILS, ARE YOU READY FOR DELIBERATION ROUND #2?
There’s a new round of engagement on the way for local government in Victoria. You need to start now if you want to achieve a process that meets the requirements of the Local Government Act 2020, works around key dates and council elections, incorporates a wider engagement process and delivers useful outputs for their council and community. This isn’t easy. So, to help, we’ve created a short, free guide that you can download today. This free ebook includes a roadmap outlining timelines and phasing, biggest lessons learned from 11 local government deliberations in round one, advice from council leaders and decision makers, a guide to scaling your deliberation based on budget and more.
IT'S INTERNATIONAL FACILITATION WEEK! HERE'S 4 FACILITATION SKILLS YOU CAN TRY TODAY
Facilitation is a practice, and that means facilitators never stop learning, no matter how experienced they are. We’re constantly working to refine our skills, and we’re committed to sharing our knowledge with others. To honour International Facilitation Week, four of our facilitators are sharing techniques anyone can try out. Give them a go next time you’re involved in an interaction or group conversation, even if you don’t normally think of yourself as a facilitator.
TIME TO DELIBERATE ON HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN AUSTRALIA
Some problems are 'wicked'. Complex, difficult, politically polarised. Housing affordability is one of those issues. Politicians are stuck in a stalemate, there's no right answer, everyone is impacted and any move the government makes will be subject to intense criticism. MosaicLab is joining the growing chorus of organisations and politicians calling for a national conversation, facilitated through a citizens’ assembly, that would help Australia move forward and tackle an entrenched problem that requires urgent action.
MASTERCLASS INSIGHTS – TRAINEES SHARE LEARNING JOURNEY
Ever wondered what it’s really like to facilitate a deliberative process? Our Facilitating Deliberation Masterclass graduates experienced a citizens’ assembly and had the opportunity to co-facilitate a live deliberation as part of a special training event run in partnership with the newDemocracy Foundation. Gain insights into their experience - what surprised them, the challenges they faced, their biggest takeaways and more.