This September, the fourth annual Social Impact in the Regions (SIITR) conference was held in Stanthorpe, Queensland. Over 200 delegates from across Australia came together on the theme of “Regions in transition”.
They say an unreflected experience is a lost experience. This series of #SIITR26Diary posts provides an opportunity for personal unpacking and further collective conversation.
Leaning into growth
Kerry Grace founded Social Impact in the Regions conference in 2023 in Coffs Harbour. The conference was integrated into Ready Communities in 2024 when we established the flagship program that included a 10-month pre-engagement and 12-month follow-up in the host community. The program has developed through delivery across three host communities: Kempsey, Grafton, and now Stanthorpe. Heading into 2027, the Ready Communities platform now includes National Regional Challenges based on focus areas of the host community, the Readiness Index to help understand change in local enabling conditions, and a structured Impact Facilitator program for local leaders.
Each year involves change. With a train ride, picnic in the park, and workshops held in vineyards across the region, there were as many, if not more, moving parts in this year’s conference. Moving to a new region each year requires new social infrastructure to engage over 30 local suppliers to meet a local spend target of over 80%. Change in each community is consistently defined by people who lean in and show up, while ongoing post-conference impact varies based on the region’s needs and the external and community capital attracted to the need and opportunity.
Amid this change, the core outcomes remain the same: to help build enabling conditions that support a community to be ‘ready’ to respond to both challenges and opportunities. The focus is on supporting local agency through the five conditions of greater clarity, connections, capability and capacity, collaboration, and advocacy.
An annual benchmark
For many delegates, SIITR provides an annual benchmark on the state of regions. The conversations focus on what is top of mind and continue conversations from the previous year. Chats across tables, park benches, and cafes include: pressing concerns around housing availability, workforce, climate-related impacts, and volunteering; the practice of work including evaluation, funding, and governance; and personal support including sustainability and health.
A week out from the conference, a main reflection is gratitude – for the local community who leaned in, for volunteers and providers who make it work, for partners who invest in collective impact, for delegates and speakers who travelled and engaged, and for a national cohort of alumni and institutions collectively working to understand and address systemic challenges in regional Australia.
Hosting the conference year on year provides an opportunity to consider how these conversations and changes develop. As the social impact sector matures, it is also a call to ensure the conversation continues not just at SIITR but through the annual program of events, policies, and consultations.
Through the next series of posts, we are keen to hear your reflections on what you contributed to and took away from your time in the Granite Belt.
