The National Conversation Development Lab is the design phase - designed to build the model properly before large-scale public engagement. Six development tracks. One goal.
The National Conversation Development Lab ('the Lab') is the design phase. It exists to ensure a National Conversation is built properly, so it earns trust and leads to meaningful change.
Rather than launching a large public process too quickly, the Lab brings together communities, citizens, institutions and leaders to design and test the model first, to protect against repeating past mistakes. It builds the right foundations before asking the country to engage at scale.
The Lab is not the National Conversation itself; it's the collaborative phase where the model is prototyped, piloted and refined.
The Lab, and the National Conversation it sets up.
Two distinct things. The Lab builds and tests the model. The National Conversation is the large-scale process the Lab makes possible.
The Lab
What we will deliver
A cross-sector initiative, led by Foundations for Tomorrow, that designs and tests how Australia can run a credible National Conversation. It produces two things:
→
Practical outputsA tested methodology - governance architecture, a Shared Inquiry Framework, engagement methods and a proposed Policy Tool - ready for multi-partisan commitment before the 2028 election.
→
Relational outputsA national coalition of community organisations, civic leaders and youth networks, ready to sustain the National Conversation when it scales.
A National Conversation
What we lay the groundwork for
A large-scale, structured conversation that brings Australians together to explore what matters most and shape the country's long-term ambitions. It builds:
→
Strong, connected communitiesTrust and relationships that hold across generations, regions and difference.
→
Civic capabilityThe literacy and practice Australians need to weigh complex national trade-offs.
→
A community mandateA documented picture of shared priorities that gives any government the licence to act.
→
A validated Policy ToolA practical instrument for long-term, accountable decision-making.
Our audacious goal: A co-created national mandate for long-term reform, ready for the 49th Parliament.
the six development tracks
Six tracks. One model.
Each track tackles a distinct design challenge. They run simultaneously and feed into each other - so the governance model, the questions, the technology and the community design all evolve together, not in sequence.
track 01
Government and policy integration
Designing how the National Conversation connects to political and policy systems - so its outputs carry weight and can drive real commitments from leaders across parties.
track 02
Research design, data capture, privacy and ethics
Building the research backbone - from how we ask questions and capture insights, to how we protect participant privacy and ensure the process meets the highest ethical standards.
track 03
Experience design and technology
Designing the digital infrastructure that makes a national-scale conversation possible - platforms for participation, transparency, and accessibility across all contexts.
track 04
Community-led design and localisation
Ensuring the model works for real communities in real places - from remote First Nations communities to outer-suburban families - by designing with them, not for them.
track 05
Accessibility and inclusion
Tackling the hard questions of who gets included and how - so the National Conversation reflects the full diversity of Australia, not just the loudest or most connected voices.
track 06
Public engagement, narrative and framing
Designing how the conversation is communicated and framed - building the shared language and narrative infrastructure that enables dialogue across deep difference.
who's in the room
Four ways to engage with the Lab.
The Lab is intended to serve everyday Australians, and brings together a diverse national network of partners, experts, community leaders and contributors - each engaging in the way that best fits their capacity and role.
Core Partners
Organisations working directly within Development Tracks. The engine room of the Lab - contributing expertise, capacity, and leadership over the full life of the Lab.
Expert Advisers
Academics, senior public servants, and subject matter experts providing strategic guidance. 1-2 hours per month - review-based, without requiring live attendance.
Community Network
Councils, community organisations, youth groups and local leaders connecting their networks, participating in engagement opportunities, and potentially hosting pilots.
Nine principles guide every part of the Lab's work, applied equally across the Council, the Secretariat, the Tracks and Core Partners.
01Principle 01
Non-partisan inclusion
Political independence is a condition of the Lab's legitimacy. No alignment to any party or ideological tradition.
02Principle 02
Universal design
Designing for the full breadth of Australian life, so the process delivers genuine uplift for every community.
03Principle 03
Process focus
The Lab is about how Australia decides, not what it decides. It takes no position in contested policy domains.
04Principle 04
Accountability
Transparent decision rationales and visible feedback loops, from contribution through to design decisions.
05Principle 05
Quality over scale
Where reaching more people would cost process quality, quality is treated as paramount.
06Principle 06
Evidence-based practice
Peer-reviewed research, government data, professional practice, cultural knowledge and lived experience.
07Principle 07
Mutual respect and curiosity
Surfacing the full range of insight in the room, rather than advocating for one's own position.
08Principle 08
Strengths-based engagement
Meeting communities through their capabilities, knowledge and aspirations, with wellbeing as a baseline.
09Principle 09
Culturally responsive design
Methods, language and protocols suited to each community's context, forging common ground for engagement.
what happens next
From open to delivery.
From the doors opening to an implementation-ready model. We're currently in the foundations stage (step 2) - the stages ahead are mapped and ready to activate.
Phase 01Building the foundationsPhase 02Collaborative design and prototypingPhase 03Finalisation and delivery
1
Open the doors
2
Build foundations
3
Tracks begin
4
Set priorities
5
Test assumptions
6
Report & consult
7
Stress-test
8
Refine & finalise
9
Deliver the model
Phase 01Building the foundationsMar - Jun 2026
The doors open, but the design work does not start yet. A window first to refine the governance model, the design ethos and the network mapping that will shape the Lab - done in the open and built together before any design work begins.
Investing the time upfront so the right people are in the room before any design work starts, with the ambition of being grounded, balanced and politically credible from the start.
Phase 02Collaborative design and prototypingJun 2026 - Jun 2027
Track Co-Chairs across the six Development Tracks get to work on preliminary scoping, sharpening the focus of each track, while Core Partners complete their onboarding and the Lab's Governance Council commences operations.
Core Partners begin mapping the gaps and setting design priorities across every track: where the unknowns sit, what matters most, and where early effort concentrates.
This also starts the rhythm that runs between every workshop from here - deep-dive workshops, cross-track synthesis, expert and community network consultation, and community pulse checks.
Early findings are developed further, and the starting assumptions are tested: what holds, what bends, and what needs rethinking before the model goes further.
Findings are consolidated into an interim report and opened up beyond Lab participants for wider public and expert consultation - drawing in advisers, political champions and stakeholder groups across business, philanthropy and community.
Testing the model under pressure and across tracks to surface where it strains, where cross-track tensions or risks sit, and how to resolve them.
Phase 03Finalisation and deliveryJun - Dec 2027
Refining the final deliverable, locking in cross-track coherence and strategic positioning, ready to carry into delivery.
Everything consolidates into a clear, implementation-ready model. Political engagement accelerates: targeted briefings to position the model for multi-partisan consideration, with complementary pathways so progress never rides on a single outcome. The model is built to outlast any one election or government - not just to arrive in time for the next.
across the whole of design
Community pilots and prototypes
Running in step with the workshops. Prototyping happens within the Development Tracks, refining core concepts before public testing. Piloting takes selected elements into the real world through surveys, facilitated sessions and community-based activities, testing whether and how each belongs in the final model. The workshops set the rhythm. The pilots supply the proof.
our partners
A snapshot of the 100+ partners making the Lab possible.
The Lab is a genuinely cross-sector effort. These are some of the organisations, networks and institutions already aligned behind it - across community, research, philanthropy and civil society.
follow along
Follow the Lab as it takes shape.
We share progress, the people behind the work and ways to get involved over on Instagram.