Who We Are
“The best solutions come from the people who live here.”
Tasman Voice for Health (TVH) is a volunteer group of residents located on the Tasman and Forestier Peninsula’s in rural south-east Tasmania, who are passionate about the health and wellbeing of their community. They represent people from the various locations across the Tasman region and connect to their many active informal and formal volunteer groups.
With support from Health Consumers Tasmania, Tasman Voice for Health has led the design, production, maintenance and ongoing development of this Tasman Connect website. It is one of their many responses to improving better access, engagement and communication around health and wellbeing information within their community.
While many people know Tasman Connect as a website, it is only as good as the community engagement and participation that is the foundation behind it. So much more happens behind the scenes. We work to strengthen relationships, improve communication, share local opportunities, advocate for change, initiate new programs when we find gaps and share stories of success to help our people thrive.
We believe the best ideas come to life through open discussion, involving the right people, and being shaped, tested, and improved by the community. We work in partnership with others to keep these initiatives relevant and led by the people best placed to support them locally.
Our Origin Story
Tasman Connect began with a simple conversation.
In 2020, a Tasmanian Department of Health needs assessment found that many people across the Tasman region struggled to find reliable information about local health, after hours and allied health services and local health promotion activities and supports.
To better understand these challenges, Health Consumers Tasmania were contracted to conduct a series of 19 Kitchen Table Conversations with local residents. People shared what mattered most to them—communication tailored to their needs, clear access to services and more opportunities to connect with one another.
The result of those conversations resulted in the formation of Tasman Voice for Health (TVH), a volunteer consumer group committed to improving health and wellbeing across the municipality. Health Consumer Tasmania (HCT) continued to support the ongoing development and support for this group. Another result was the formation of a group of local health clinicians and government providers, called the Clinical Action Group (CAG), who work together with TVH and Primary Health Tasmania to deliver improved place-based health outcomes for our community.
A Tasman Community Engagement Worker was employed from 2022-24 to work between TVH and HCT to enact community-led and place-based health improvement goals and develop the Tasman Connect website. This work was funded by the Tasmanian Department of Health.
From 2024-27, the continuation of this work has been funded through a Healthy Together grant. Based on their partnership approach and what they had already achieved they were encouraged to continue a collaborative place-based approach and new partnerships were established including Tasman Council.
As more ideas have grown into action, the Tasman Connect website has become an important community asset. It is one way of strengthening local connections, sharing trusted information and stories and supporting community-led and place-based projects that make life in the Tasman healthier and more connected.
How We Work
Tasman Connect is guided by local people, for local people and accountable to local people.
Throughout the year, our volunteer working groups meet, as desired, bringing forward community issues to discuss, research and share with the right people to develop practical solutions to improve health and wellbeing. What we learn is also conveyed back to the community through these group members and their networks.
We listen to the community through conversations, surveys, workshops and local events, helping us understand what’s working well, what’s missing and where new opportunities exist. These insights guide our projects, partnerships and advocacy.
Working alongside community members, local organisations, businesses, service providers, researchers, entrepreneurs and government agencies, we bring people together to turn ideas into action. Whether it’s improving access to information, supporting new community initiatives or strengthening local connections, our work is driven by the needs and ideas of the community itself.
If you’d like to be part of shaping a healthier, more connected Tasman, we’d love to hear from you.
Want to see community-led action in practice? Explore our Working Groups.
Community Stories
Tasman Connect is built on local people making a difference in their own community.
Read the stories of people, projects and partnerships helping shape a healthier Tasman.