Written by Eleanor Howe, Senior Manager
A few of the local government deliberative community panels are now concluding and we’ve been finishing our time together on a high. The panel have handed their outputs to the mayor and shared their hopes and expectations for the work they produced.
We’ve been hearing from our panels how meaningful the process has been, how they feel heard and valued by their Council. Our clients have been sharing how valuable the discussions and insights and how useful they’ll be as they start to develop the Council Plan, Asset Plan and Financial Plan.
So, what’s next? I think we’re missing opportunities for ongoing engagement. Waiting four years to reassemble such a valuable group seems to create an unnecessary gap in community wisdom and input.
The community members on these community panels are the ‘critical friends’ of council. They have a deep understand how Council operates, an awareness of the challenges facing their local council and knowledge of their community. They are uniquely positioned to provide insights to local governments on some of the significant challenges they are facing or set to face. This could include operating in a rate capped environment, delivering the services the community need and how to best make investment in assets.
Deliberative panels require meaningful investment—in time, resources, and community trust – but so too should be its impact. How can we get more out of this investment and continue to strengthen Australian democracy?
