Since writing “Power in Coalition” Tattersall helped to found a broad based coalition called the Sydney Alliance. This coalition builds on the findings in the book as well as the practices of community organising, with the aim of building a citizens organisation capable of taking public action for the common good.

The Sydney Alliance involves a diverse array of organisations, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Hindu Council of Australia nine unions including Unions NSW, Western Sydney Community Forum, Arab Council Australia, the Uniting Church, the Jewish Board of Deputies, Bhavan Australia (see all the organisations at www.sydneyalliance.org.au).

The Alliance was founded in 2007 with funding from Unions NSW, with Tattersall working with another organiser, Jennifer Acklin, approaching organisations about the idea. With the union movement’s Your Rights at Work campaign in the background, sufficent interest was garnered from 13 organisations to being the Alliance.

By 2010, 26 organisations had shared $1 million to help build a strong coalition for the common good in Sydney. Over 1000 people from these organisations had participated in a 2 day alliance building training program, and the coalition had established sustainable governance structures.

During 2010, the Alliance will hold listening campaigns in its organisations to identify issues / concerns / hopes that may be commonly felt by the members of its different organisations, and in September 2011 the Alliance will launch into the public arena with an Assembly and an agenda for the common good.