Mapping Justice Challenges and Opportunities in Melbourne’s West is a research project led by the Centre for Just Places and funded by the Greater Melbourne Foundation. The project is designed to complement and inform Greater Melbourne Foundation’s ‘A just and equitable future for Melbourne’s west’ initiative.
About the project
Across Melbourne’s west, patterns of disadvantage and climate risk are unevenly distributed and shaped by place. Outcomes are produced through the interaction of social, economic and environmental conditions, including housing, income, service access and exposure to climate impacts, which accumulate differently across communities over time.
Addressing these challenges requires more than isolated interventions. It calls for coordinated, place‑based approaches that are grounded in robust evidence, informed by local context, and supported by sustained collaboration across sectors.
The Greater Melbourne Foundation is committing to a ten-year investment across the region to support long‑term, equitable outcomes. This project contributes to that investment by strengthening the shared evidence base needed to guide strategic decision‑making, collaboration and resource allocation.
Building on existing research, partnerships and place‑based work, the project focuses on the local government areas of Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melton and Wyndham, providing an integrated understanding of both place‑based conditions and the capacity for collective action.
What we’re doing
This project brings together two connected elements of work to support more informed, coordinated and long-term responses.
Part A: Climate, social and economic justice profile
This component develops a robust, place‑based picture of conditions across Melbourne’s west.
It includes the development of a tailored climate justice index, drawing on best‑practice approaches and local data to show how climate and environmental exposure overlaps with socio-economic disadvantage in Melbourne’s west, and how the west compares to Greater Melbourne averages.
This analysis is complemented by qualitative insights from community organisations and local stakeholders, ensuring the findings reflect lived experience and local context. Outputs will include accessible local area profiles and visual tools that support understanding, planning and advocacy.
Part B: Readiness for collaborative, place-based action
This component assesses how ready organisations, networks and leaders across the region are to work together on long‑term, place‑based responses to shared challenges.
The assessment focuses on the enabling conditions for collective action such as leadership, collaboration, community voice, shared purpose, resourcing and learning at a regional and cross‑sector level.
Findings will identify strengths, gaps and opportunities to strengthen the conditions for collaboration over time, supporting Greater Melbourne Foundation and its partners to align investment and capacity building efforts.
Why this work matters
Climate change is intensifying existing social and economic inequalities. In Melbourne’s west, communities are already experiencing the impacts through increasing exposure to extreme heat, rising costs of living, and growing pressure on local services and infrastructure.
The Greater Melbourne Foundations’ investment in the region is focused on supporting long‑term, place‑based change. This project supports that aim by bringing together data, local knowledge and system‑level insight to identify where need is greatest, where strengths already exist, and where coordinated action can have the most impact.
By combining a detailed understanding of place‑based conditions with an assessment of readiness to act, the project provides a shared foundation to guide more targeted, collaborative and equitable responses over time.
Partnerships
The project is being delivered in collaboration with partners across Melbourne’s west, including local government, community organisations and regional networks, with a particular focus on organisations connected to the Greater Melbourne Foundation’s investment in the region.
Details
- Project period: 2026
- Location: City of Brimbank, City of Maribyrnong, City of Melton, City of Hobsons Bay, Wyndham City
- Funding: Greater Melbourne Foundation
To find out more, contact Kate White (Senior Lead, Climate Justice, Centre for Just Places): [email protected]