Place-based change is a growing field with many approaches and initiatives. Each year more people and partners are coming together to re-imagine and influence how change happens through community-led collaborative action.

ChangeFest celebrates the significance of place and the progress being made. It supports the movement to learn and strengthen our understanding of community-led approaches and is a demonstration of how initiatives across diverse lands are encouraging collaboration across sectors, meaningful engagement, and elevating First Nations and community voices as a pathway for transformative change.

ChangeFest recognises that local and national decisions are interlinked and that we need to work across places and scales to influence systems barriers. We gather to celebrate what is possible and co-create what is needed for community leadership and shared power to create a more equitable future.

Since 2018 the movement has gathered together for four country-wide events. Starting in 2018 Logan (Yagara and Yugambeh Country), then 2019 Mt Druitt (Darug Country), 2020 Palmerston (Larrakia Country), and most recently 2023 Lutruwita/Tasmania (Palawa Country) and in 2024 will be held on Ladji Ladji Country in Mildura, VIC.

Stories of local change and impact are shared, connections are made, and conversations are ignited to move efforts forward. At the gathering are First Nations leaders and community members, community leaders, government partners, funders, service providers, and community-led change practitioners. 

ChangeFest is an opportunity to:

• Generate ideas for creating collaborative action and solutions to shift power that encourages and centres place-based community-led approaches to foster thriving communities
• Listen and learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about their place-based ways of working
• Deepen connection to, and understanding of Country
• Learn about our ChangeFest hosts’ own model for establishing and leading community-led systems change in its regional context, which centres First Nations leadership, and fosters cross sector collaboration including partnerships with three levels of government
• Support national conversations about growing investment in place-based approaches from government partners, funders, and service providers to address the needs and specific circumstances of a place
• Grow our networks for strengthening community-led collaborative place-based change
• Amplify our work here in Australia as an innovative leader in centring equity and place-based approaches in systemic transformation