Kitchen Table Conversations

Kitchen Table Conversations (KTC) is a model of civic engagement that revolves around one simple idea: that engaging people in the kind of open and honest dialogue that women have had around kitchen tables for centuries has the power to create real change.

Originally developed by Executive Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust, Mary Crooks AO, alongside a small group of concerned citizens in Victoria in the 1990s, KTC was the centrepiece of The Purple Sage Project. Since then, it’s gone on to make waves all over Australia — most famously as the model employed by Voices for Indi to mount a campaign for the election of Cathy McGowan in 2013.

Now, the Trust has compiled a guide to KTC that is available to all who are looking to organise around the issues that affect their community — free for download below.

In 2023, VWT adapted the model for a campaign — Together, Yes — to support constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Learn more about the campaign here.

Kitchen Table Conversations: A guide for sustaining our democratic culture includes:

A history of the Kitchen Table Conversations model, as told by Mary Crooks AO and Alana Johnson AM, Chair of the Board of the Victorian Women’s Trust
An overview of the practical steps required to successfully run the model
Eight key steps for running the KTC
Templates for use at community meetings

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Kitchen Table Conversations

Purple Sage

Mary Crooks AO

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