FAQs
What is the Connecting Mackay Panel?
The Connecting Mackay Panel is a voluntary group of residents, ratepayers and business owners from within the Mackay region who commit to participating in regular surveys throughout the year. The Connecting Mackay Panel has been created to provide regular, convenient engagement opportunities for interested community members.
Collecting input from the panel will also provide us with a greater level of community participation in the region's decision making and ensure the community’s voice is heard.
We would like as many people as possible to join the panel but we need a minimum of 150 to get started, to try to make the panel as representative as possible of the Mackay region's population.
What's involved in being a panellist?
Once the panel reaches 150 people it will be officially launched. Following this, surveys will be sent to panellists via email.
Surveys will be accessed via the Connecting Mackay website, where you will find relevant information about the project and have access to a closed survey specifically set up for the panel members.
Who should be on the panel?
The panel is open to all Mackay region residents, ratepayers and business owners aged 18 years and over. We aim to have a panel of people relatively representative of the Mackay region's population.
We want people of various ages, backgrounds and interests to be a part of the panel. The more diverse the panel, the better the quality of the feedback we will receive.
A separate Connecting Mackay Youth Panel is available for those aged 10-25. If you would like to join the Youth Panel click here.
How many surveys do I have to complete and how often?
We require panellists to commit to at least three surveys per year. The surveys that the panel receives will be carefully selected - you won't be asked to contribute to every consultation we run, rather you will be asked to contribute to projects that are significant or impact the entire region to complement broader community engagement being undertaken for that particular project.
Alternatively you may be asked to complete a survey that isn't being promoted more broadly - we may ask you to provide input to test new ideas or initiatives.
As this is a new initiative, we will monitor how regular the surveys are distributed and of course, we welcome any feedback you may have.
What happens with my personal information?
When registering, to Connecting Mackay we ask that you provide contact details . This information will be used internally to notify you of future surveys and information about the Connecting Mackay Panel via enewsletter. They will not be used for any other purpose.
Your personal identifying information will be used by council to contact you and not be included in your survey responses. This information will be managed according to the guidelines of the Officer of Information Commissioner (OIC).
The demographic and other information that you provide council will only be used to report on the panel as a whole, so that we have a good idea about who we are hearing from. We aim to make this panel as representative of the Mackay region's population as possible, therefore we need to collect details of who is on the panel. This data will be compared to the ABS data for the Mackay region.
Click here to read the Information Privacy Disclaimer.
Where does feedback from the panel go?
This depends on each survey and the project it relates to. All feedback will be collated and provided to the project teams to help inform decision making. Surveys may ask about a topic that is being widely engaged on throughout the Mackay region or to test ideas and initiatives.
The outcomes of consultation activities will be reported back to you in a six-monthly newsletter. This may include a summary of all contributions collected and recommendations for future action.
How can I find more information?
The Connecting Mackay Panel is managed by our Community Engagement team. If you have any questions please contact council's Community Engagement team on 1300 MACKAY (622 529) or via engagement@mackay.qld.gov.au
Changed your mind and no longer would like to be on the panel?
It's no problem. Simply email engagment@mackay.qld.gov.au and we will remove you from our list.