The Mareeba Community Taskforce

The Mareeba Community Taskforce is a joint initiative of the Mareeba Chamber of Commerce and Mareeba Shire Council to continue to promote Mareeba’s prosperity and wellbeing and unite the community to tackle the big issues:

  • Growing the economy
  • Overcoming disadvantage
  • Creating healthy, active communities

Three Year Action Plan

A three year Action Plan was prepared with community input from a forum held on 6 September 2021 which highlighted five big priorities requiring action for improvements:

  1. Health services

Health services are improved to meet the needs of a growing rural population in the Mareeba district with high risk of chronic disease, ageing faster than Australia and experiencing high socio-economic disadvantage

  1. Transport connectivity

Transport connectivity is improved to facilitate the resilience of key routes between Mareeba and the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, the Atherton Tablelands and Southern Australia, while also focusing on active recreation and commuting options for residents and visitors.

  1. Workforce attraction and retention

Improved focus on attracting and retaining a skilled workforce to support industry objectives, meet the demands of a growing rural population and keep pace with a quickly changing world to ensure future economic sustainability and liveability.

  1. Affordable housing

Housing affordability and accessibility is improved to deliver sustainable benefits to health, employment, and well-being in the community.

  1. Community safety

The community works together in positive ways for improved community safety encompassing adequate policing, appropriate judicial outcomes, and sustainable funding to support the needs of the community’s most vulnerable to deter criminal activity and improve community safety

Progress Report

A second Taskforce Forum was held 15th November 2022 to review the priorities and report on progress with tackling the five priorities. Feedback from participants at the November 2022 forum was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the original five priority actions.

A Progress Report of these actions and outcomes for 2022 has been prepared and it lists more than 70 targeted actions undertaken and outcomes achieved by multiple agencies, over and above standard day to day operations.

This report is by no means exhaustive and there is much more being done. Organisations are encouraged to reach out to connect with the Taskforce about other actions and outcomes in these areas.

More to be done …

Notwithstanding these actions and outcomes, many big issues facing the people of Mareeba are complex with long standing legacy issues impacting some of the community problems and other priorities cannot be tackled without an injection of large amounts of capital, so much more is required. Ongoing collaboration between all levels of government, community, business, and industry sectors as well as appropriate resourcing and committed leadership at all levels is essential to achieving good outcomes.

2023 and beyond

The Mareeba Community Taskforce Action Plan – 12 Month Progress Report presents many of the actions and outcomes achieved by many agencies to address the five priorities in the Action Plan. The Action Plan will continue to be implemented.

A decision will be made in 2024 regarding further review of the plan and the future purpose and actions of the Taskforce.

Further details

For further details, please contact Council’s Tourism and Economic Development Officer on

1300 308 461 or email info@msc.qld.gov.au