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The Water for Life Community Panel have now delivered their vision and a set of community criteria to help shape our 50 year water strategy.

Role of the Community Panel

The members of our Community Panel play an integral role in the development of the Water for Life strategy. We are committed to a community led approach in developing the strategy, and the Project Team’s decisions about future water options will be informed by the Panel’s vision and criteria to the maximum extent possible.

What the Panel have been up to

Watch the latest video from our Community Panel

The Community Panel have provided their recommendations in a Community Panel Report, which details the following community vision and fourteen criteria for the Water for Life strategy:

Vision

Our Melbourne. Our Water. Our Responsibility.

The vision is for a future with:

• Innovation driving equitable access to water
• Pristine, precious, secure and sustainable water
• Meaningful engagement with traditional owners and consumers.

Criteria

• Ongoing education and engagement with stakeholders
• Protecting the health of waterways
• Optimising water usage from all sources
• Accessibility of water to the community
• Self sustaining water supply
• Water security – ensuring a reliable supply of water in the future
• Environmental preservation (conservation)
• Water efficiencies
• Reduction of water wastage
• Responsible water usage
• Efficient and integrated water management
• Adoption of new technology
• Water affordability
• Collaboration between relevant levels of government and stakeholders.

In recognition of Traditional Owners’ status as our partners in natural resource management, we are working together with these groups to ensure our strategic direction and decision making is reflective of their values and priorities. To support this approach we have also shared the full Community Panel Report.

Ultimately, the criteria will support the Water for Life Project Team in short-listing a long list of options for the future.

Our panel members will come together again in October 2021 to review the draft strategy.

You can read more, including the full Community Panel Report on our Water for Life Community Panel page.

Role of the Community Panel

Recently we welcomed the members of our Community Panel who will be integral to developing the strategy. We’ve committed to a community led approach in developing the Water for Life strategy. To deliver on this commitment, we’ve handed over the strategy vision and community criteria to the Panel.

The Project Team’s decisions about future water options will be informed by the Panel’s vision and criteria to the maximum extent possible.

What the Panel have been up to

Our Community Panel met for the first time on Wednesday 16 June, 2021 before jumping straight in to three sessions held over the following week. During these early sessions, Panel members focused on getting up to speed with our current challenge, the purpose of the Water for Life strategy, and the many ways they can have a meaningful impact.

Panel members heard from a fantastic range of guest speakers including:

• Dr. Rohan Henry (Gunditjmara man and Manager of Land & Waters, Bunurong Land Aboriginal Council Aboriginal Corporation)
• Michael Cook (Wadawurrung man and Water Officer, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation)
• Maddie Greenlee (Project Director, Water for Life)
• Arron Wood (Board Member, South East Water)
• John Thwaites (Chair, Melbourne Water Board)
• Dr. Erin O’Donnell (Water law and policy specialist, University of Melbourne).

We also invited eight subject matter experts to participate in a round of speed dialogue with the Panel. This session ran a bit like speed dating where small groups of Panel members met with an expert and had an open forum to ask any questions about their industry or area of expertise, which included:

• Climate Change science
• Water resources planning and infrastructure
• Affordability and hardship
• Economic value of water
• Water policy setting and regulation - now and into the future
• Environment and sustainability
• Innovation and technology in water
• Central and Gippsland Sustainable Water Strategy.

What Panel members are saying

Watch the video below to hear from a few of our Community Panel members on how they’ve found the process so far.

Click the image above to watch a short video from some of our Community Panel members.

During April and May, the Water for Life project team invited customers, community members and industry representatives to share their views and help inform Water for Life - our 50 year strategy for Greater Melbourne.

With support from each of the water corporations, we reached out to people across our combined service regions via an online survey, community workshops and targeted discussions with key industry representatives.

Overall we heard from 345 people who shared their concerns, questions and ideas about Greater Melbourne’s water future. We’ve reviewed and analysed all of the feedback, and produced the Water for Life Wider Engagement Report detailing everything you told us.

This report has been shared with our independent Community Panel, who met for the first time on Wednesday 16 June.

Read more about the Community Panel process at: waterforlifestrategy.com.au/community-panel