---
title: MosaicLab
type: practice
status: active
country: AU
website: https://mosaiclab.com.au
logo: /assets/org-logos/mosaiclab.webp
contact:
  checked: 2026-07-24
  email: info@mosaiclab.com.au
  phone: 0422 830 650
  source: https://mosaiclab.com.au
summary: An Australian deliberative democracy practice that designs and facilitates
  public deliberation processes — citizens' juries, panels, and assemblies — for governments
  and public institutions.
concepts:
- citizens-assembly
- deliberative-democracy
- consensus-mapping
location:
  latitude: -37.8136
  longitude: 144.9631
  name: Melbourne, Australia
  precision: city
events:
- date: '2014-01-01'
  title: First citizens' jury — City of Melbourne 10-Year Financial Plan; Nicholas
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/case-study-1-participatory-budgeting
  quote: The panel was a random stratified (to match the demographics of the city)
    selection of people that was recruited by the newDemocracy Foundation
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  notable: true
- date: '2015-01-01'
  title: City of Melbourne Urban Forest Strategy wins IAP2 Australasian Environment
    Project of the Year
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/2016/8/16/meet-a-co-founder-kimbra-white
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
- date: '2017-01-01'
  title: Founded by Kimbra White, Nicole Hunter and Keith Greaves
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/nicole-hunter
  quote: Nicole co-founded MosaicLab (with Keith Greaves and Kimbra White) in 2017
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
- date: '2018-01-01'
  title: Critical Thinking Research with Dr Lyn Carson wins IAP2 Core Values Award
    for Research
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/contributions-to-the-field
  quote: we were awarded the IAP2 Australasia Core Values Award for Research in 2018
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
- date: '2018-01-01'
  title: Contributes to Democracy Beyond Elections handbook (newDemocracy Foundation
    + UN Democracy Fund)
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/contributions-to-the-field
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
- date: '2020-01-01'
  title: Pioneers Australia's first standing citizens' panels (Mornington Peninsula
    Shire & City of Kingston); Kimbra White presents at DOD 2020 Primer
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/about-us
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
- date: '2022-01-01'
  title: Publishes Facilitating Deliberation — A Practical Guide, drawing on 39 deliberative
    processes
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/the-big-book
  quote: Drawn from the authors’ experience delivering 39 deliberative engagement
    processes, the book is full of insider secrets, authentic lessons learned
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
- date: '2023-01-01'
  title: Water Works Across 2021-23 named IAP2 Awards Finalist
  source: IAP2 Australasia, Core Values Awards finalists 2023 — mosaiclab.com.au/projects
  proof_level: low
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
- date: '2025-01-01'
  title: Facilitating Deliberation made free to download globally; first use of AI
    tool in a deliberative process (NWMPHN Community Panel); ML Giving formalised
  url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/ml-giving
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    date: 2025-12-08
    note: website loaded. Latest blog post is on December 8, 2025 'SHIFTS SHAPING
      ENGAGEMENT NEXT YEAR'
  dod:
    checked: 2026-07-16
    date: 2026-07-16
    note: Site active; recent posts include Victorian Government engagement inquiry
      analysis and a 2025 year-end/2026 trends post covering AI integration and representativeness
      in deliberative practice
    url: https://mosaiclab.com.au
  sitemap:
    date: 2026-07-31
    note: Page last modified (from sitemap)
    url: https://mosaiclab.com.au/sitemap.xml
    checked: 2026-08-17
last_checked: '2026-07-16'
---

MosaicLab is a professional practice specialising in public deliberation. It designs and runs deliberative engagement processes: citizens' juries, standing panels, deliberative polls, and citizens' assemblies for government clients across Australia.

MosaicLab has delivered over 60 full-scale deliberative processes and 500+ projects total across every Australian state and sector. They have published a comprehensive guide to facilitating public deliberations, drawing on that experience, and co-developed research on how deliberative democracy can be embedded in decision-making organisations.

## Approach

MosaicLab operates at the intersection of theory and practice. They design processes for high-stakes and contested issues — cases where standard consultation would not generate meaningful input — and work with clients to ensure outputs genuinely inform decisions rather than serving as token engagement.

They are also engaged in building the evidence base for deliberation: what conditions make it work, when it is appropriate, and how to embed it as a normal part of institutional decision-making rather than a one-off experiment.

## Notable processes

- **City of Melbourne 10-Year Financial Plan (2014)** — MosaicLab's first citizens' jury; a participatory budgeting deliberation observed by economist Nicholas Gruen
- **VicHealth Citizens' Jury on Obesity** — statewide deliberation on a complex public health issue
- **Barwon Water Community Panel (2018)** — IAP2 Highly Commended; water sector deliberative engagement
- **Shape Victoria People's Panel (Victorian Government 2050 Vision)** — 50 randomly selected Victorians shaping the state's long-term vision
- **TasWater Statewide Deliberative Engagement** — Tasmania's first statewide deliberative engagement process, 45-member panel
- **Future Wyndham Community Panel (2024-2025)** — 150 randomly selected residents; one of Australia's largest local government deliberations
- **Agriculture Victoria Biosecurity Roundtables (2019-present)** — annual deliberative process, now in its 6th year
- **Mornington Peninsula Shire & City of Kingston** — pioneered Australia's first standing citizens' panels
- **NWMPHN Community Panel (2025)** — first use of an innovative AI tool in a deliberative process

## ML Giving

MosaicLab's pro-bono arm provides each recipient project **$5,000** toward costs plus approximately **4 days of professional facilitator time**. Projects include Cultura (refugee women in Geelong developing business plans), Mornington Community Support Centre, Melbourne Tautoko Whanau, and a University of Canberra Social Cohesion Action Plan (2026).

## Key people

- **Kimbra White, Nicole Hunter, and Keith Greaves** — co-founders. All three bring backgrounds spanning community engagement, public policy, and deliberative process design. Kimbra White has presented to DOD on deliberative democracy practice.[^mosaiclab]

## Links

- Website: [mosaiclab.com.au](https://mosaiclab.com.au)
- See also: [newDemocracy Foundation](newdemocracy.md) — frequent collaborator in the Australian deliberative democracy space

## See also

- [Citizens' Assembly](../concepts/citizens-assembly.md)
- [Deliberative Democracy](../concepts/deliberative-democracy.md)
- [Consensus Mapping](../concepts/consensus-mapping.md)
- [DemocracyCo](democracyco.md)
- [Designing Open Democracy 2020 Primer](../../blog/posts/2022-02-24-podcast.md) — Kimbra White from MosaicLab appeared at this DOD meetup

[^mosaiclab]: "Kimbra co-founded MosaicLab in 2013 and sees the group as a platform for continuous learning about participation." [Kimbra White](https://mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/2016/8/16/meet-a-co-founder-kimbra-white) co-founder bio. See also Nicole Hunter and Keith Greaves bios.