Stock assessment capacity is stretched in terms of people, their workload and the resources they have available to them. Furthermore, the work of this scientific community is often undertaken with short timelines and is stressful, as the outcomes can directly impact livelihoods and be publicly criticised. This has often led to an environment where investing in oneself or an organisation’s stock assessment analysts can become limited not through lack of will or need, but rather lack of time, funding, mentorship and collegial support, and opportunity. Over the past few years, investments in Australia’s stock assessment capacity have been increased by: a) conducting a review of the scientists in this field and the assessment approaches they have developed, to determine whether these could be streamlined through collaboration and shared package use, b) analysing the factors that have constrained stock assessment analysts, c) describing how connected stock assessment analysts are and the potential risks to on-going collaboration and d) connecting the community through learning and play. This paper will highlight what has been learnt and describe how a supportive community can be created.