User panels
The Geological and Bioregional Assessment (GBA) Program user panels sought to provide a clear mechanism for supporting stronger relationships between the Program, key regional stakeholders and communities.
The panels sat within the overarching governance structure of the Program. The user panels provided the program with advice to ensure the program provided robust science that met community expectations and investigated matters of importance to the people who live and work in the GBA regions
Further information on the guiding principles that underpin the design of the GBA user panel, and the dedicated guidelines are available from the User Panels Guidelines page.
The purpose of the user panels was to inform and develop fit-for-purpose assessments that address the questions and concerns raised by users in each of the GBA regions. The advice and recommendations provided by user panel members was provided to Program partners to inform the scope of works undertaken by the Program scientists.
The user panels for each of the three GBA regions consisted of a broad membership that included Commonwealth and state or territory regulators, local and state or territory government representatives, industry representatives (gas and agriculture), Indigenous representatives, and other interested parties including local landholders, local water users and natural resource management bodies.
Panellist involvement enabled greater transparency between the Program, stakeholders and their communities.
Meeting Schedule:
| GBA region | Meeting 1 | Meeting 2 | Meeting 3 | Meeting 4 | Meeting 5 | Meeting 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beetaloo | 31 Jul 2018 |
23 May 2019 |
12 Aug 2020 |
10 Dec 2020 |
28 April 2021 (final) |
|
| Cooper | 21 Mar 2018 |
19 Sep 2018 |
1 Aug 2019 |
8 July 2020 |
8 Dec 2020 |
22 April 2021 (final) |
| Isa | 9 May 2018 |
13 Aug 2019 |
13 Aug 2020* |
*The Minister for the Environment concluded the assessment for the Isa GBA Region on 15 May 2020. The meeting on 13 August 2020 was the last for the Isa GBA Region.
Discussions from each meeting are summarised in short communiques. The communiques are agreed by panel members and published on the GBA website for the Cooper GBA region, Isa GBA region and the Beetaloo GBA region.User panel monitoring and evaluation project
The Program conducted a targeted monitoring and evaluation project to measure the effectiveness and performance of the user panels in supporting the Program. This project, undertaken by CSIRO, ran for the life of the Program and aimed to assess the effectiveness and performance of the panels and provide recommendations to improve Program outcomes.
The overarching objectives of the monitoring and evaluation project were:
- to assess the alignment between Program activities and outputs and the needs of the intended users
- to examine how data collected from the user panels has been used by the Program
- to assess how effectively the Program met the expectations of the intended (and other) users.
Project methods included observation at meetings, interviews with user panel and Program members, and surveys to track sentiment over time.
Over the life of the Program two reports were prepared:
- Evaluating the effectiveness of User Panels in the GBA Program, Year 1
- Evaluating the effectiveness of user panel in the GBA Program, Final report
These reports are available from the User panel monitoring and evaluation project page