Community Reference Groups
Build with community, not just around community
At Yarning Crescent, we help organisations create and run Community Reference Groups that are meaningful, culturally grounded, and built to drive real outcomes.
Too often, reference groups are created as a tick-box exercise. They meet occasionally, offer surface-level feedback, and have little influence over the decisions that matter. We do things differently.
Our approach is built on genuine engagement, cultural safety, trust, and practical action. We help organisations establish reference groups that bring the right people to the table, create stronger accountability, and ensure community voices shape programs, services, infrastructure, strategy, and long-term decision-making.
Whether you are working in disability, health, education, government, aged care, child and family services, infrastructure, housing, or corporate engagement, we can help you design a reference group model that is respectful, effective, and fit for purpose.
What is a Community Reference Group?
A Community Reference Group is a structured forum that brings together community members, leaders, stakeholders, and lived-experience voices to guide an organisation, project, service, or initiative.
It can be used to:
- inform strategy and decision-making
- guide culturally safe service design
- strengthen community trust and buy-in
- provide ongoing feedback and accountability
- support co-design and consultation
- reduce the risk of disconnected or poorly informed decisions
- ensure programs and initiatives reflect real community needs
When done properly, a Community Reference Group becomes far more than a consultation mechanism. It becomes a bridge between organisations and the communities they serve.
Our offering
Yarning Crescent can support your organisation end-to-end with the design, setup, facilitation, and ongoing management of Community Reference Groups.
We can help with:
Reference group design
We work with you to define the purpose, scope, structure, membership, governance, and outcomes of the group.
Terms of reference and governance
We develop clear documents that set expectations around roles, confidentiality, decision-making, meeting cadence, cultural protocols, and reporting lines.
Member identification and engagement
We help identify the right mix of community voices, lived-experience representatives, Elders, sector stakeholders, and other key participants.
Culturally safe facilitation
We facilitate sessions in a way that creates safety, trust, openness, and respectful contribution.
Co-design workshops and yarning circles
We can integrate more culturally appropriate engagement models into the reference group structure where needed.
Secretariat and coordination support
We can manage agendas, minutes, actions, communications, attendance, scheduling, and follow-up.
Feedback translation into action
We help organisations turn community feedback into practical recommendations, workplans, and decision-making pathways.
Reporting and executive visibility
We can provide summaries, thematic insights, action tracking, and clear reporting back to leadership teams.
Ongoing review and improvement
We help assess whether the group is actually working and make changes where needed to keep it effective and respected.
Why organisations use Community Reference Groups
Many organisations know they need stronger community engagement, but they are not always sure how to do it properly.
A well-run Community Reference Group can help your organisation:
Improve trust
Communities are more likely to engage when they can see that their voices are being heard and acted on.
Strengthen cultural safety
Reference groups can help identify blind spots, risks, and opportunities that may otherwise be missed.
Make better decisions
Decisions are stronger when informed by people with direct lived experience, cultural knowledge, and local understanding.
Reduce reputational risk
Poor consultation can damage trust quickly. Genuine engagement helps build credibility and social licence.
Support co-design
Reference groups provide a practical structure for involving community in design, delivery, and review.
Create accountability
They help ensure organisations do not drift away from the communities they say they are there to support.
Where this works best
Our Community Reference Group model can support a wide range of projects and organisations, including:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement
- disability and NDIS services
- child, youth and family services
- aged care and community care
- mental health and wellbeing initiatives
- schools and education projects
- local councils and government programs
- infrastructure and place-based projects
- housing and homelessness responses
- corporate social impact and reconciliation initiatives
Our difference
At Yarning Crescent, we understand that community engagement is not just about process. It is about relationships.
We bring a practical and culturally informed approach that helps organisations move beyond generic consultation and into something far more valuable: real participation, real input, and real accountability.
We know that the quality of a reference group depends on more than who is invited. It depends on how the space is designed, how trust is built, how conversations are facilitated, and whether the organisation is truly willing to listen.
That is where we come in.
We help make sure your Community Reference Group is:
- culturally safe
- well structured
- outcome focused
- community informed
- professionally facilitated
- aligned to your goals
- built for long-term value
What engagement can look like
Depending on your needs, Yarning Crescent can support:
One-off setup
We design your Community Reference Group model, documentation, membership framework, and rollout plan.
Short-term project support
We facilitate the group for a defined project, consultation period, or co-design process.
Ongoing delivery support
We act as an ongoing partner to coordinate and facilitate meetings, manage actions, and keep the group functioning effectively.
Advisory and review
We review your current group or engagement model and provide recommendations for improvement.
Ideal for organisations that want to:
- engage community properly from the start
- improve how they consult and co-design
- strengthen Aboriginal engagement and cultural safety
- create better feedback loops with lived-experience voices
- build governance models that include community input
- ensure community engagement leads to practical action
- avoid tokenistic consultation processes
Frequently asked questions
Do Community Reference Groups have to be Aboriginal-specific?
Not at all. They can be designed for many communities and purposes. However, where Aboriginal community engagement is part of the work, it is critical that the model is culturally safe, respectful, and informed by the right people.
Can Yarning Crescent help set up the governance documents?
Yes. We can assist with terms of reference, role descriptions, membership frameworks, engagement principles, meeting structures, and reporting pathways.
Can you facilitate the meetings as well?
Yes. We can provide independent facilitation and support ongoing coordination, action tracking, and reporting.
Can this be used for co-design?
Absolutely. Community Reference Groups are often one of the strongest ways to support genuine co-design when structured properly.
Can this support government or corporate projects?
Yes. This offering works well for government agencies, funded providers, corporates, community organisations, and partnerships looking to engage communities in a more meaningful way.
Let’s build this properly
If your organisation is serious about community voice, cultural safety, and better decision-making, we can help you establish a Community Reference Group that is practical, respected, and genuinely valuable.
Talk to Yarning Crescent about designing, facilitating, or strengthening your Community Reference Group.