About Local Thriving Communities

The Queensland Government is committed to working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to establish greater decision-making authority in service delivery and economic development through the Local Thriving Communities (LTC) reform.

LTC is a significant long-term reform that will embed change, resulting in a visibly different way of working alongside communities across the state to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders.

This approach is based on mutual respect and high expectations relationships, applying a collaborative approach to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities a greater voice in shaping their future.

Independent decision-making bodies will begin providing a representative voice for engaging with Queensland Government to:

make decisions about their own future
build on their strengths as a community
invest in the things that will make communities stronger, that will make a difference to people’s lives
create thriving communities.

Community knowledge, research and evidence and lessons learnt over time will inform LTC, with the principles of self-determination, participation, equality and culture underpinning the initiative.

LTC will not replace existing decision-making structures.

Background to the reform

The Queensland Productivity Commission’s inquiry into service delivery in remote and discrete Indigenous Communities (PDF) considered how resources should be best used to meet the needs of those communities.

The inquiry consulted with more than 500 stakeholders including members of those communities, and provided 22 recommendations for reform.

LTC will deliver the Queensland Government’s Response (PDF, 521 KB) to the Queensland Productivity Commission’s recommendations.

LTC is one element of Queensland’s Tracks to Treaty: Reframing the relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders initiative. Another element is Path to Treaty.

How the reform will be designed

The LTC is a new way of working for both the Queensland Government and remote and discrete communities.

We will apply best practice for this reform by working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to co-design and implement the reform and establish local decision-making bodies, through engagement with government and key stakeholders.

This means we will seek advice and guidance from each community about how the decision-making bodies should work for their unique needs, and what needs to happen to establish them.

LTC supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders to shape their own futures for their community.

The Joint Coordinating Committee

The LTC reform is overseen by a Joint Coordinating Committee that meets between four and six times a year to provide advice and guidance on design and implementation.