Regional Victorian wellbeing frameworks: Gannawarra, Greater Shepparton, Stratford 3862 (Wellington)
During 2025 and 2026, we worked with three rural Victorian communities to co-develop local wellbeing frameworks: Greater Shepparton, Gannawarra Shire, and Stratford 3862 (Wellington Shire). In each community, a unique set of wellbeing domains was identified, which tell the story of what is important to wellbeing of the community.
| The local government area (LGA) of Greater Shepparton has a growing population spread across the regional city of Shepparton, smaller towns and on rural properties. It is part of Australia’s ‘Food Bowl’, and famous for its multicultural community, arts and cultural events. Residents wanted a wellbeing framework that reflected the importance of their cultural diversity, social connectivity, and that could track how well liveability of being maintained with a growing population. | Gannawarra Shire is a small rural LGA with just over 10,500 residents in 2021. It is known for its agriculture and for its natural beauty, particularly lakes and wetlands along the Murray River. With an ageing population, and some population loss in recent years, residents wanted their wellbeing framework to track access to services, infrastructure and economic opportunity, as well as how people experience the natural amenity of the area. | The community of Stratford and postcode 3862, located in Wellington Shire, is well known for its annual Shakespeare on the River festival. The community is growing with new residents moving in and integrating with people who have lived locally for generations. Residents wanted a wellbeing framework that tracked how well services, infrastructure and liveability are keeping up with a growing population, and the health of volunteering and community organisations. |
Explore the wellbeing frameworks and indicators for each community, as well as Wellington Shire, below.
In each community, local leaders worked with University of Canberra researchers, and held conversations with a wide range of community members about what is important to their personal wellbeing, and to the wellbeing of the community. In all three communities, consultation started with a review of the topics locals had raised in past consultation processes and community discussions. This was followed by holding conversations at times and places that worked for local people – from direct interviews, to meeting in coffee shops, and attending meetings of community organisations. Across the three communities, 200 people also had a say via an online survey. These conversations were combined with evidence on what matters for wellbeing to produce a draft wellbeing framework for each community. The draft framework was reviewed and refined through workshops and discussions with local residents and organisations.
As well as producing the wellbeing frameworks you can explore above, the process of developing framework was used to identify the types of information that should be included in the Regional Wellbeing Monitoring Hub. For example, several of the indicators described on the Hub were developed based on conversations with people in one or more of the three communities. These new indicators have typically not been included in other wellbeing frameworks, and reflect issues and needs unique to regional Australian communities.