About Agenda.Melbourne

About

A seat at the table for anyone who cares about Melbourne.

Agenda.Melbourne is a non-partisan civic platform. It exists so that more people, and more young people in particular, learn how this city is run and take part in running it.

Why

Decisions about Melbourne are made every week. Most people are nowhere near the room.

Council meetings, planning panels, budgets, state departments: the decisions that shape your street and your rent are made in public, by people you can question. Very few residents ever do, and very few young people are shown how.

Agenda.Melbourne puts people in front of the people who decide. It teaches the mechanics of local government so that an interest in the city can turn into a role in it. It keeps a running list of the things residents say are broken, checked against the public record. And through Grounded State, it puts disagreement on camera, argued properly, so that the hardest questions get aired instead of avoided.

Melbourne is a global city requiring a global vision with local actions.The line we work from

The global part is the ambition: a city that belongs to people from every corner of the world and should be run that well. The local part is the work: footpaths, rates, trams, housing, the shop on the corner. Both matter, and the second is where most people can make a difference first.

AM/CHARTER/1 Melbourne, 2026

Charter

How Agenda.Melbourne conducts itself

Article 1

Purpose

To bring more Melburnians, and more young Melburnians, into the decisions that shape the city, through forums, leadership workshops, mentoring, public debate and a standing agenda of issues raised by residents.

Article 2

Non-partisan

Agenda.Melbourne endorses no party and no candidate. Decision makers from across politics are invited on the same terms. No one is asked their party, and no one is turned away for theirs.

Article 3

Open to disagreement

Every topic here is contestable, including the views of the people who run it. The point is to discuss, to hear the other side at full strength, and where needed, to agree to disagree.

Article 4

The public record

Issues raised by residents are checked against minutes, budgets, plans and published statements before anything is said in public. Where the record is unclear, we say so.

Article 5

Open to all

There is no membership fee and no experience required. Anyone who cares about the city may take a seat, at any age.

Article 6

Independent

Agenda.Melbourne is an independent community initiative. It is not part of any council, government, party or international body, and it is not affiliated with the United Nations.

Non-partisan, in practice

What that means when it is tested

Non-partisan is easy to print and harder to run. Here is how we hold ourselves to it.

Forum invitations go to decision makers on the basis of their role, never their party.
Every Grounded State motion is argued from both sides, and we cast for balance.
Workshops teach the process of running for office. They do not tell you which side to run for.
Mentors may hold strong views. They agree to help you form your own.
No one here needs to be right. If you think a position taken here is wrong, bring the argument.

How it works

Three doors. Use any of them.

Register your interest. One short form. Tell us where you live, what you care about and how you would like to be involved. Registrants hear first about forums, workshops and shoots.
Take part. Come to a forum and put a question to someone who decides. Join a workshop. Ask for a mentor, or offer to be one. Apply to argue a motion on Grounded State.
Put something on the agenda. If something was promised and has not happened, send it in. We check it, list it, and raise it with the people responsible.

Start here

Take your seat.

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