Strengthening local communities, one conversation, one project, one partnership at a time.
We’re Charles and Tracy Alder, long-time advocates for stronger, more connected rural and regional communities. Since 2013, our work has taken us into hundreds of towns across Australia, supporting farmers, councils, volunteers, and local leaders to rebuild not just infrastructure, but hope, identity, and community pride.
We founded the Buy a Bale campaign and led Rural Aid, mobilising Australians to raise more than $100 million to support drought, fire, and flood-affected communities. Along the way, we created practical, people-focused programs such as Farm Rescue, delivering on-farm infrastructure to help farmers stay productive, maintain dignity, and secure income during tough times. In 2018, we expanded this work to include community infrastructure and partnered with Peter Kenyon and Bank of I.D.E.A.S. to deliver workshops and webinars that helped towns rediscover their strengths.
Today, Rebuilding Australia takes all those lessons the successes, the scars, the stories and puts them to work for councils and communities nationwide.
Why Rebuilding Australia Exists
Australia’s communities are changing rapidly. Councils are being asked to deliver more with fewer hands:
• Increasing service demands
• Rising social pressure
• Shrinking volunteer bases
• Greater community expectations
• Disasters that hit harder and more often
After more than two decades working directly with communities, we understand both the weight of that responsibility and the enormous opportunity that emerges when the right support is available.
Rebuilding Australia provides practical, outcomes-focused support for councils who want stronger, more engaged, more resilient communities.
What We Help Councils Achieve
Community Development
Locally tailored strategies, town revitalisation plans, community-led development approaches, and facilitation grounded in Bank of I.D.E.A.S. principles.
Community Engagement
Workshops, listening campaigns, surveys, intercultural engagement, and processes that bring more voices especially underrepresented groups into local decision-making.
Marketing & Storytelling
Helping councils tell the story of who they are, what they value, and where they’re going. We turn community strengths into compelling narratives residents feel proud of.
Volunteering Strategy & Support
Building sustainable volunteer structures, helping councils attract, organise, and retain volunteers, and creating roles that people want to participate in.
Community Capacity Building
Leadership programs, partnership development, local project coaching, and tools to empower grassroots groups and emerging leaders.
Crisis & Recovery Engagement
Drawing on years of drought, fire, and flood recovery work, we support councils through engagement, resilience-building, and post-disaster community infrastructure initiatives.
Our Specialty: Tourism & Events for Community Activation
Vibrant events and local tourism are powerful tools for strengthening identity, creating pride, building economic activity, and bringing people together.
Our experience includes:
• Designing community festivals and major local events
• Strengthening tourism narratives for LGAs
• Helping towns build signature experiences that attract visitors and energise locals
• Creating partnerships that drive regional tourism growth
Whether it’s a major new festival or a place-based tourism strategy that brings a town’s soul to life, we help communities turn their stories into experiences people travel to be part of.
How We Work With Councils
We can support your LGA through:
• One-off workshops, community conversations, or town hall sessions
• Strategic planning or facilitation
• Multi-month community development partnerships
• Volunteer engagement and activation programs
• Community wellbeing, belonging, and connection initiatives
• Tourism development and destination storytelling
• Full Community Development Plans (CDPs) tailored to your town’s identity, challenges, and aspirations
Every partnership is localised, grounded in community voice, and designed to create long-term momentum.
Our Approach
We bring a combination of experience and practicality that is rare in this space:
✔ Over 20 years working directly with rural and regional communities
✔ Leadership of one of Australia’s most trusted rural charities
✔ A proven ability to mobilise people around shared purpose
✔ Deep insights shaped by working alongside Peter Kenyon
✔ A national perspective with genuine local sensitivity
✔ A track record of building programs that work on the ground, not just on paper
Our mission is simple: help communities shape their own future with confidence, connection, and a renewed sense of possibility.
Let’s Rebuild Australia Together
If you’re looking to strengthen participation, build trust, attract volunteers, revitalise your towns, or create events and tourism experiences that bring people together, we’d love to talk.
Rebuilding Australia isn’t just a name it’s a commitment.
To places. To people. To possibility.