Community Independents Project
Our Story
In 2013 Cathy McGowan was elected as a Community Independent to the federal seat of Indi. She handed the baton to Helen Haines in 2019 when Zali Steggall was also elected as the Independent Member for Warringah.
What Cathy and Helen achieved in a regional seat over successive elections, and Zali Steggall in a city seat, inspired a nationwide movement.
Key members of the Indi and Warringah teams had been sharing their experience and knowledge on how to get Community Independents elected, coming together to hold inaugural Community-minded Independents Convention “Getting Elected” in February 2021. Beyond all expectations, 300 people across more than 72 federal electorates took part.
At the Convention participants asked for the knowledge sharing and network building to continue. In response, Cathy McGowan, Alana Johnson and Jill Briggs from Indi and Tina Jackson from Warringah established the Community Independents Project. The Project continues this pivotal work, building networks of trust, sharing and paying it forward to put community at the centre of Australian politics.
The Election on 21 May 2022 was a win for community and a better way of doing politics. Seven new Community Independents were elected, joining Zali Steggall OAM and Helen Haines, resulting in the biggest cross bench Australia has ever seen.
The cross bench of the 47th Parliament included (L to R) Helen Haines (Indi), Kate Chaney (Curtin), Zoe Daniel (Goldstein), Zali Steggall (Warringah), Kylea Tink (North Sydney, unfortunately abolished in the 2024 AEC Redistribution), Dr Sophie Scamps (Mackellar), Allegra Spender (Wentworth) and Dr Monique Ryan (Kooyong). David Pocock was elected as an Independent to the Senate.
In August 2022, CIP held the “Empowered Communities: Next Steps” Convention to celebrate an election like no other and plan what’s next. The June 2023 Convention theme was “Get Political: Communities taking political action” - connecting, collaborating, activating for a better Australia. The theme of our 2024 Convention was People Powered Politics.
Nicolette Boele was elected as the Member for Bradfield, further strengthening the crossbench. Zoe Daniel is no longer the Member for Goldstein, by a wafer thin margin. While the loss of an incredible MP, it’s a demonstration of the gain communities see when they have strong Community Independents. Many of the 2025 Federal candidates made their seats marginal, including Peter George in Franklin, who went on to be resoundingly elected as a Community Independent in the Tasmanian Parliament. For more detail about the 2025 candidates and results see HERE.
Tens of thousands of people have been inspired to actively participate in our democracy, returning the focus of politics to community, and there is now no such thing as a safe seat.
The 2025 Convention centres on building the Community Independents movement - “Communities in Action: Strengthening Democracy Together”.
The 2025 Federal Election showed the Community Independents movement to be the fastest growing political movement in the country. In total, 37 Community Independent candidates stood (representing 1 in 4 electorates), almost double the number who ran in 2022. Notably, the growth in voting for Community Independents was second only to that of the Labor Party. The number of electorates with community groups (like 'Voices of') more than doubled since 2022. Whether or not a community ran a candidate or won a seat - our democracy is stronger today because of this grassroots movement.