Welcome to summer and the seemingly endless school holidays. If you’re a parent, holidays revolve around finding the next big distraction to keep the kids out of your hair so you can get back to the compost. But this summer, why not keep them busy with their own compost projects?

It’s hard to get kids enthusiastic about anything other than screen time these days. SO why not start there? Grab their attention with a little help from Costa Georgiadis and the team at ABC’s Gardening Australia Junior with Composting for kids | Gardening Australia Junior.

Turning kitchen scraps and yard waste into compost is a simple routine that most kids ages 4 and up can help with. If your family is already actively composting at home, this article from Vego Garden based in Houston, Texas, offers some great tips on Composting Chores for Kids By Ages.

Why not take the kids to a compost workshop? There are plenty on offer over the holidays. Check your local council’s event website or Facebook page or connect with your local community garden. Here’s a few from around the country:

Wednesday 14 January, Dayton Family Hub, Dayton, WA

Thinking Green: Growing Micro Animals with Compost for Healthy Plants

Suitable for ages 11-14 yrs

Thursday 15 January, Ryde Library, Sydney, NSW

Garbage to Garden Workshop

Suitable for ages 8+ yrs

Composting & Worm Farming Workshop

Suitable for ages 8+ yrs

Saturday 31 January, Banyo Library, Brisbane, QLD

Make a mini worm farm to take home

Ideal for children aged 2–12 years

If you’re confident with compost but clueless with kids, How to compost with kids | Parents | National Geographic Kids is a good place to start. You’ll have the kids begging to take the kitchen scraps out and turn the pile in no time!

If you try all of this and the kids are still frustrating you, you can always

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LOCCAL President’s Report

A Year in Review – 2025

2025 has been a great year for the Local Community Compost Alliance of Australia (LOCCAL). This year saw our transition from a hatchling organisation into a still-young, but increasingly confident and capable national network. What began as a small, hopeful initiative is now taking shape as a growing movement, based around shared values, practical action, and collective care for community-led composting across Australia.

We started the year with 24 members and closed it with 68 members spanning every state and territory. This growth reflects the desire for connection, advocacy, and shared learning among community composters in Australia, and reinforces the importance of a national body that can support, amplify, and represent this diverse sector.

Strong foundations

On an organisational level, 2025 was about putting essential foundations in place. We established a bank account to receive donations and future grant funding, enabling us to cover core operating costs such as our website, domain name, email systems, and plugins, and to begin planning for future opportunities such as conference participation and sector representation.

We also established four working groups, which respond directly to the interests, needs, and concerns raised by members from our 2024 survey:

• Quality Assurance, Regulation, Testing & Standards (QARTS)
  This group acknowledges a shared tension: while over-regulation of community composting would be a mistake, the sector itself must hold high standards and demonstrate best practice. QARTS is exploring how community composting can be safe, credible, and accountable, but on our own terms.
• Community Compost Champions Working Group (CCC WG)
  This group is progressing conversations around a potential National Master Composter Training Course. The vision is to empower people to confidently take action in their communities, build strong connections, support safety, and strengthen a robust national network capable of long-term advocacy. Proposed elements include online learning modules, practical volunteer hours, ongoing network participation, assessment interviews, and annual professional development.
• Partnerships & Advocacy Working Group (P&A WG)
  Focused on forming mutually beneficial relationships and developing a more strategic, coordinated approach to advocacy for community composting at multiple scales.
• Communications Strategy Working Group (CS WG)
  Supporting the ongoing management and development of LOCCAL’s website, blog, newsletter, and social media presence.

Events, conversations, and campaigns

In 2025, LOCCAL hosted two public-facing online events:

• “Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost” during International Compost Awareness Week in May. See recording here
• The Community Composter’s Spring Convergence in October. More here

We also launched a  “Say No to Fruit Stickers”  campaign.

Our monthly member meetings continued to be a wealth of connection and learning, with generous guest speakers including Virginia Brunton (MRA Consulting), Danny White (Peels App), Sue Bradley (Community Gardens Australia), and David Gravina (Compost Revolution).

Our website became a more active hub this year, with the launch of a monthly newsletter, regular blog posts  covering community composting initiatives in Australia and overseas, news and policy developments, experiments, and practical how-to guides. We also shared a series of short videos  which show the diversity and vitality of community composting in action.

Partnerships and networks

Partnership-building was a major focus in 2025. We formed semi-formal partnerships with Peels App and Community Gardens Australia, met with government delegates from Hsinchu City Taiwan, attended the Queensland Community Gardens Australia State Gathering, and provided a letter of support for Friends of Chippendale in their successful City of Sydney funding bid.

We worked with Monash University students through the Monash Innovation Guarantee (MIG) Challenge and strengthened connections with international networks, including the Aotearoa Compost Network (NZ), Indigenous Community of Practice (Nigeria), Devon Community Composting Network (UK), The Mycelium Network (UK), LA Compost (USA), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (USA), and Compost Club (Argentina).

Research and knowledge-building

Behind the scenes, LOCCAL continued important research into Australian state, territory, and federal policies that support, hinder, or shape community composting, alongside mapping international models and contexts to inform future advocacy and sector development.

Looking ahead to 2026

In the coming year, LOCCAL will focus on:

• Progressing ATO Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status
• Increasing membership and deepening engagement
• Further developing a clear, strategic advocacy approach
• Improving our website, including an improved events calendar, a national map of community composting initiatives, and shared resources
• Finding support to help manage and grow our Instagram presence

How you can get involved

LOCCAL is a member-led organisation. There are many ways to contribute:

• Share your stories and projects for our blog
• Help maintain our Instagram page (we desperately need someone for this!)
• Share LOCCAL content through your networks
• Encourage others to join
• Participate in a working group
• Offer skills such as technical support, graphic design, legal advice, fundraising, grant writing, or research
• Donate to support our work
• Join the committee – we currently have a vacancy for Treasurer.
• Just contact us at info@loccal.org

Closing reflections

LOCCAL is still a young organisation, but it is growing with integrity and optimism. Thank you to every member, volunteer, collaborator, and ally who has contributed time, energy, and elbow grease this year!

In community,

Clytie

President, LOCCAL