Reports/Rapports : Community Engagement In Rural-Remote and Indigenous Local Government, Australia

Source: Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government.
ACELG has released a new study that considers whether rural-remote and Indigenous local governments (RRI) in Australia have developed robust community engagement processes.

The research explored:

1. What community engagement RRI local government in Australia undertakes.

2. Barriers and unique challenges RRI local governments face when engaging with their communities.

3. Community engagement strategies and methodologies RRI local governments find effective and ineffective.

4. Gaps in the community engagement knowledge and resources of RRI local government, and

5. The most useful options for improving community engagement by RRI local government.

Findings confirm the varying capacity of RRI local governments in engaging with their communities, and key observations include:

1. RRI local government generally recognises the central role of community engagement in supporting local government to effectively perform its role but overall these practices are still largely in their developmental phase.

2. Top challenges to RRI local government community engagement related to internal capacity constraints, community capacity constraints and external factors.

3. The most practical options for supporting RRI local government community engagement related to council and community education, internal community engagement skill development and engaging culturally diverse groups.

Read full report.
Read summary.

WWW: http://www.acelg.org.au/news-detail.php?id=273