Purpose and Objectives
Community engagement is an important principle in the planning, policy development and decision-making process of Company. Company believes that quality community engagement is essential to the foundation of good governance and to enhance the relationship between the community and Company.
Scope/Coverage
This policy applies to all facets of Company operations including:
- Corporate governance
- Economic Development
- Provision of Infrastructure
- Community services
- Environment and Heritage Protection
This policy defines the principles underpinning Company‘s engagement activities, the role of Management and employees in engaging with the community, and the mechanisms which Company will use to engage the community.
Policy Statement
Company recognises that community engagement and participation processes are a vital part of democracy. Effective engagement is good business practice and critical to good government. For this reason, Company is committed to engaging with all of its communities and residents.
The benefits of effective engagement include:
- Company and community working together to address local issues and together achieve better outcomes;
- an effective level of community ownership and acceptance of decisions affecting the Company;
- the added value of tapping into and drawing upon community expertise,
- knowledge and experience to optimise organisational decision-making
Principles
Effective community engagement is built on trust, respect and goodwill. Company has a commitment to community engagement that is governed by a set of principles that underpin good engagement processes. The principles are described below:
- Integrity and transparency – Engagement involves trust and transparency. The levels of community influence will be clearly communicated. Consultation and higher forms of engagement must be genuinely purposeful and not tokenistic. Company will carefully consider, and accurately portray, the community’s role in the decision-making process and reflect back how the community has influenced decisions.
- Open and inclusive – Company encourages involvement from a wide cross-section of the community using engagement processes that are accessible and inclusive;
- Mutual respect – Company’s goal is to ensure that all voices matter, all opinions are valued and considered. It recognises that both the community and the organisation are responsible for outcomes.
- Timeliness – Company will engage with its community in ways that are timely, open to all, easily understood and not overly bureaucratic or resource intensive.
- Well Planned – Engagement requires informed judgement and planning in its approach and implementation in order to be effective, practical and suitably resourced. Consideration will be given to ensuring that sufficient timeframes and adequate resources are allocated to engagement processes;
- Foresight – Company engages with its community not only to learn about and respond to present needs but also to gain a better understanding of our communities’ perspective on emerging issues that may affect our preferred future.
- Accountability – Company is ultimately responsible and accountable and it will accept its responsibility to make the final decision.
Strategies
Engagement around Strategic Issues
By their very nature, these engagements will concern strategic and/or region-wide issues. On these issues, Company could involve the community through the establishment of advisory panels and task forces or through special one-off conferences or other appropriate engagement activities designed to generate dialogue and ideas. Councillors will be consulted to determine the nature and type of their involvement in the strategic issue.
Engagement concerning Local Issues
Company will take a flexible approach on how it engages with the community on local issues. Engagement activities will provide an opportunity to give and receive information and may include the establishment of working or project groups, forums or community meetings. Such activities will be action-focused and will always involve Company employees.
- Engagement Linked to day to day Business – staff in consultation with Management will identify and manage community engagement activities associated with Company core business and projects approved in Company budget.
- Engagement Activities – Company recognises the full spectrum of engagement activities as contained within the iap2 Spectrum of Public Participation, ranging from informing, consulting, involving, collaborating and empowering.
Company will use different community engagement techniques and communication mechanisms depending on the issue or project, its particular circumstance and the audience it needs to target.
The need for any type of community engagement to be undertaken will be determined at the project planning stage following an analysis of the desired project outcomes. The project plan will also identify the most appropriate communication tool to ensure that the particular target group(s) is well informed of both the issue and related engagement opportunities.
At the planning stage, the project team will also consider whether or not it can obtain the community information it requires from another source, or previous engagement activity, in order to maximise the use of limited resources and minimise the potential for consultation fatigue developing within the community.
Responsibilities
Management and staff play important roles in engaging with the community.
Company will decide the high-level strategic issues on which it will engage the community. These issues will be linked to an identified corporate plan priority or a significant emerging issue and will be recorded in a register of community consultations.
Management have the responsibility for engaging with local communities, and Company employees have responsibility for engaging the community in their day to day business activities and on agreed projects and place-making activities.