Advisory committees are a common feature in community engagement, but familiarity doesn’t always equal effectiveness. Too often, they’re maintained out of habit rather than impact, becoming costly and outdated without delivering clear value.

The Advisory Committee Conundrum

Advisory committees have long played a role in harnessing knowledge, testing ideas, and building relationships between organisations and their stakeholders. But they can become directionless, tokenistic, or stale - leading to frustration for both members and decision-makers.

Their challenges are numerous:

committee member selection often skews toward the ‘usual suspects’.

vocal individuals may be appointed simply to appease them, as they are seen as time-consuming for senior executives and the committee approach provides a ‘way out’.

discussions lack diversity.

decision-makers remain distant.

meetings can get bogged down in information overload rather than productive dialogue.
participants often misunderstand their role - thinking they get to make decisions and influence at a high level - when in fact they are ‘advisory’ only in nature.
they often don’t have clear ‘sunset clauses’ and ways to bring in ‘new voices’ - and so they stagnate or become inculcated.

there are other options

What if, instead of defaulting to advisory committees, organisations asked: “What’s the real outcome we want?” From there, bespoke engagement processes can be built- combining citizen juries, pop-up conversations, deliberative forums and storytelling sessions. This approach could be lighter, more participatory, and more creative.

>> From advisory to embedded

Instead of periodic reviews, members could act as active collaborators- co-designers and co-creators- contributing to real-time problem-solving with staff, experts, and communities.

This shift demands more than a new schedule; it calls for a fresh mindset, moving from a fixed and stationary scope to flexible, evolving agendas shaped with the group.

At its core, it’s about building trusted relationships for ongoing, purposeful engagement. The value lies not in control of the conversation, but in trust, relevance, and shared ownership of outcomes through an evolving set of problems.

>> From committees to Communities of Practice

Advisory committees often function as silos - gathering expertise but lacking connection to broader knowledge ecosystems. By contrast, Communities of Practice (CoPs) bring people together around shared challenges, fostering learning, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Imagine replacing your committee with a network of customers, clients, stakeholders, and community members who work together to learn, adapt, and act. These mini communities would be less about formal advice and more about building collective capability.

>> From a few known voices to many new voices

Traditional committees tend to rely on known stakeholders and formal representatives. This approach often leaves out quieter voices and emerging perspectives.

Newer models such as mini-publics, Standing panels, or rotating mini-panels - use random selection or targeted recruitment to bring in a broader and more representative mix of people. These approaches are more effective at capturing the perspectives of customers, clients, and communities, ensuring that engagement is not only accessible but also truly diverse and inclusive. They are also grounded in deliberative principles, meaning they’re designed to ensure integrity, transparency, informed input, and fair representation.

The Future is flexible, purposeful, and people-centred

In many cases, this costly default no longer matches the complexity of today’s challenges or the expectations of customers, clients, and communities.

Given the time and effort they require, it’s worth asking: what real impact are they making? And what opportunities might we be missing by continuing to rely on the same model?

Rethinking the default looks like:

Blending committees into broader engagement ecosystems

Creating mini-panels for specialised, time-limited insights

Exploring standing panels and larger community ‘pools’ as a strategic investment

Asking not “how do we run the committee better?” but rather “what’s the best way to engage meaningfully on this issue?”

the result:

A well-supported group of informed customers, clients, or community members that can be regularly engaged to test ideas, weigh trade-offs, and navigate emerging dilemmas.

These groups create space for open, respectful dialogue - even when the issues are complex or politically sensitive. When organisations are willing to be vulnerable - sharing early thinking, tensions, and uncertainty - they build trust. That vulnerability invites more honest feedback, strengthens relationships, and builds greater confidence in the path forward.

CASE STUDY

In 2024 Yarra Valley Water (YVW) ran a pilot Community Assessment Panel (CAP) to involve customers in reviewing its performance over the past year. Drawing on past citizen jury and advisory group participants, the CAP had about 25-30 members.

Over three sessions, participants assessed YVW's performance across six key customer outcomes, working with YVW staff to determine the extent to which they had achieved their outcomes and when they did not, and recommend the amount of funds to be returned. The YVW Board accepted the CAP's recommendation.

Learn more

If your organisation already has an advisory committee read our tips here to help ensure the experience delivers real value for both the organisation and the group.

Get the scoop on standing panels here and read about the standing panels we’ve worked with here.