If we want different results, we need to work differently. That’s a key lesson from place-based work across Australia and it’s one Bundaberg is putting into practice. The shift isn’t just about launching new projects; it’s about transforming the way people relate to each other across community, services, and government.
The Water of Systems Change report describes relationships and power dynamics as “semi-explicit” conditions in a system often overlooked, yet critical to real progress. In Bundaberg, community-led work is reshaping these dynamics. Instead of the government deciding for the community, or services acting in isolation, new spaces are emerging where people can collaborate on equal footing. These partnerships don’t happen by accident. They are built through trust, time, and deliberate effort often supported by local Backbone Teams who facilitate shared learning and action.
For example, in regional Queensland, where access to services can be patchy and traditional hierarchies entrenched, creating meaningful relationships takes sustained work. According to a 2023 report by Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS), co-designed approaches that centre lived experience have higher uptake and better outcomes, particularly in areas like youth engagement and family wellbeing.
In Bundaberg, we’ve seen this in recent partnerships that bring schools, child health, neighborhood centres, and community leaders together to solve shared challenges. Sometimes the solution is a new program, but often it’s a new way of working like coordinated outreach, joint data sharing, or simply listening deeply to families who’ve felt excluded in the past.
These changes may seem small, but they signal something big: a shift from transactional to relational ways of working. As SPSP communities have shown, relationships are the bridge to system change. They allow trust to form, accountability to grow, and new ideas to flourish.
In the end, systems don’t change because a policy says so. They change when people do. And in Bundaberg, that change is already underway one strong relationship at a time.
Find the Full The Water of Systems Change Report and SPSP Early Evidence Report of Community-Led Change for further reading.
Written by Gayle Reynolds (Co-Founder Welcome to Bundaberg)