On the Ground at NSWTG Taking Charge of Your Tomorrow Expos
NSW Trustee and Guardian's Taking Charge of Your Tomorrow Expos are bringing together a wide range of service providers for seniors across regional NSW.
The most recent events in Wagga Wagga and Albury saw packed venues and enthusiastic participation. The Community Education team, together with local NSWTG staff, reflected on how these events eventuated, why they matter and what they will look like in the future.
A regional vision realised
After identifying a gap in public education around planning ahead documents in regional areas, Maria Grew and Alexandra von Rabenau from the Customer Experience Community Education team initiated a self-led expo that would unite services under one roof. Thus, the Taking Charge of Your Tomorrow expos were born.
The first expos launched in 2024 in Albury and Wagga Wagga. Following strong local feedback, Wollongong and Nowra in Southern NSW were added this year to increase presence and appointments.
Collaboration is at the core
Leveraging our collaboration with Service NSW and Seniors Rights Service as participants in the Expo enabled us to bring in government, NGO, community and other organisations to the most recent Wagga Wagga and Albury expos. These collaborations are vital to our customers, bringing a range of services for seniors together to answer questions and help educate participants.
Our full list of participating services across both Expos was:
- Services Australia
- Service NSW
- Seniors Rights Service
- Anglicare Financial Counselling
- University of the Third Age
- Carers NSW
- Meals on Wheels
- BaptistCare at Home
- Marathon Health
- Forrest Community Services
- Corella Health
- Rural Financial Counselling Service
- Intereach
- Nurse Next Door
- Pearl Home Care
- Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme
- plus local libraries, aged care, volunteer organisations, financial advisors, home care and health services.
“A strong partnership between the Community Education team, the various service providers and the local office was vital in bringing these expos to fruition”, said Maria. The local team placed notices in libraries, retirement villages and other venues where the word-of-mouth spreads like wildfire.
The NSWTG Communications and Marketing team promoted the event with Facebook posts, local community groups on social media, printed posters, website promotion and a radio interview with ABC’s Breakfast show host, Sally Bryant, who interviewed Maria about the importance of planning ahead.
Engaging and empowering communities
The day’s agenda started with a presentation by NSWTG’s Maria Grew to the approximately 70 attendees, followed by presentations from other service providers about how visitors can connect with local organisations and learn about available services. Alexis and Lucy from the Wagga office played a vital role, booking 12 Wills appointments on the day and have since completed a few of those customer appointments.
"I loved it. These events are so wide-reaching and enabled us to build a higher profile for NSWTG in the Wagga region." - Alexis, Principal WEP Consultant, Wagga Wagga
Visitors to our stall were eager to learn how to create their documents, asking questions like: “How do I prevent my Will from being challenged?” or “How do I protect my child who has a disability?”. Feedback from them was also overwhelmingly positive.
"Your presentation made me feel like you were talking to me personally, and it was easy to follow." - Expo attendee, Wagga Wagga
Looking ahead to 2026
Unlike other expos where we are part of another organisation’s event, we’ve proven that visitors are more likely to make an appointment for their estate planning documents at the NSWTG expo. Attendance and registrations doubled this year. In Wagga and Albury, 15 appointments were booked, who then completed their Wills, Power of Attorney and Enduring Guardian documents, setting high expectations for 2026. Plans are already underway to return to Albury and Wagga, with new locations Ballina and Tweed Heads joining the schedule to expand our reach to Northern NSW in March 2026.
Many of the service providers are also eager to return next year, now better equipped to promote the expos, having seen their impact first hand, “we’re putting this event on the map”, said Alex.
The annual growth of the NSWTG Taking Charge of Your Tomorrow expos enables NSW Trustee and Guardian to support more people in regional communities, build trust and strengthen relationships with our local partners and counter misinformation through direct engagement and collaboration.
Thank you to Maria, Alex, Alexis and Lucy for your dedication and effort in making these expos a success. We look forward to seeing how they continue to grow and empower communities across NSW.
"I feel more confident moving forward to make decisions with these documents." - Expo attendee, Albury
