Andrew Newton, CEO at WentWest, Professor Glen Maberly, Director at Western Sydney Diabetes, Professor Di O’Halloran, AO, Chair of the WentWest Board, Professor Penny Abbott, Western Sydney University, Professor Anne-Marie Hennessey, Western Sydney University
Western Sydney is an incredibly diverse region, home to 1,080,817[1] people with 57%[1] of the region using a language other than English at home. In addition, 48%[1] of residents were born overseas. Western Sydney is also home to one of the largest urban populations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. The region’s cultural diversity is among the greatest in the world and requires deep understanding of the barriers to health and wellbeing in the region.
In 2023, we ran two Citizens’ Juries to find out what matters to our community. The goal of this process was to deepen our understanding of health and social care priorities, enabling us to align health investments in our region with what communities need.
At the conclusion, members were advised that their recommendations would form the agenda of WentWest’s investments into Western Sydney. Furthermore, to increase the impact of the citizens’ juries in the long term, WentWest committed to working with jury members to a permanent model. The members of the juries have co-designed the operating rules, terms of reference and principles to form the Western Sydney Citizens’ Assembly.
Last Wednesday 17 July 2024, we are proud to have officially launched Western Sydney Citizens’ Assembly as a permanent model in our region. At the launch event, guests enjoyed hearing from key speakers, about the importance of such assemblies as part of the health landscape. Guest speaker, Dr Tim Dunlop, shared his knowledge and excitement for the success of this process within Western Sydney.
Andrew Newton, CEO of WentWest, also shared his support for the launch stating, “Tonight’s launch of the Citizens’ Assembly is a significant moment for Western Sydney. Each of the members of the Assembly bring a different perspective and represent different cultural background and are united in their desire to improve health outcomes for all members of our region. I would like to thank each of the members for their time and passion for health in Western Sydney.”
Members of the Western Sydney Citizens’ Assembly presented their experience, learnings and joint recommendations for health expenditure in Western Sydney. The overwhelming response to the information presented in each jury was the focus on prevention of disease and the need to invest accordingly.
Concluding the evening, Professor Di O’Halloran, AO, Chair of the WentWest Board and Dr Anne-Marie Feyer, Member of the WentWest Board shared their support and passion for the process.
Next Steps for the Western Sydney Citizens’ Assembly
As a representative cross-section of our region, the Western Sydney Citizens’ Assembly aims to meet monthly for the first year. The goal of the regular meetings includes promoting better connections between health and social care, tracking the implementation of the health and social care priority recommendations made by the juries and demonstrating meaningful allyship between First Nations and other culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Western Sydney.
For more information about next steps, please visit the initiative’s webpage.
This information is correct as of 25 July 2024.
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021), Combined 2021 Census data for Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta and The Hills LGA’s. Accessed by: Search Census data | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)