In this episode, Matt speaks with Tanya Rong — Chair of the Latrobe Health Assembly, Australia's first community-led health assembly, set up in the wake of the 2014 Hazelwood mine fire to give the Latrobe Valley community a genuine voice in the decisions that shape its health and wellbeing. A former intensive care nurse with a background in health promotion, Tanya is now completing a PhD at Monash University on place-based approaches to health — and she has been part of the Assembly from its earliest days, as a volunteer, board member and chair.

A simple conviction sits at the heart of the conversation: place-based work thrives on trust. Rather than dropping cookie-cutter programs into a community, genuine place-based practice starts by honouring local knowledge and getting the "preparation" right — building relationships and laying the groundwork long before anything is delivered.

If you like this episode, then make sure to check out #13 Governance, Not Geography: Redefining What Place-Based Work Really Means with Luke Craven for more on this topic.

Resources mentioned:

• Latrobe Health Assembly
• Preparation, Participation, Impact (PPI) Framework
• Exploring community engagement in place-based approaches (Rong, Ristevski & Carroll, 2023)
• Tanya's 2025 research on community engagement and place (Social Science & Medicine)
• PLACE — Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment
• Local Trust — Big Local
• Hands Up Mallee
• The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)
• Collaboration for Impact

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