Progress Update | The Lab is officially open!

The National Conversation Development Lab is officially open.

This project is the culmination of several years of work, many months of stakeholder engagement, research, and honest reflection on whether we could, or should, be the organisation to do this. Having seen the opening event at Australian Parliament House with the Parliamentary Group for Future Generations, I feel confident we made the right call. More MPs and Senators turned up than at any previous meeting. Civil society stakeholders, academics, and experts came to show their support, and the energy in the room was remarkable.

These update videos are about learning publicly: sharing the successes, the challenges, and the questions, in the hope that we can do this together. An 18-month design process to create an Australian model for a national conversation is a bold undertaking for any organisation, and we know we cannot do it alone. So we will keep sharing what we are working on and how, and we invite your feedback, your connections, and your ideas for how we can strengthen this work.

To be clear on where we are now: the Lab is open, but not yet formally launched. Over the next three months, all our foundational materials are available, including the website, the report unpacking our theory of change, and Portraits of Our Future, which captures the real impact of short-term thinking on everyday Australians' lives. This period is about building relationships, refining our collaborative governance, and responding to feedback before our full June launch, when the development tracks open and the real work begins together.

Our first Lab meeting is on the 23rd April. We hope to see you there!