Community Consultation and the ‘Hard to Reach’ Nillumbik Shire Council Case Study Report Council Plan and Strategic Resource Plan 2005-06 Nicola Brackertz Denise Meredyth The Hard to Reach Project is a collaborative research venture with eight Victorian local councils, the Victorian Local Governance Association and researchers from Swinburne University of Technology. The three year project is jointly funded by the Australian Research Council and partner organisations. Project Team Chief Investigator: Prof Denise Meredyth Project Leader: Nicola Brackertz Researchers: Katrina Gorjanicyn, Dr Helen Sheil, Dr Ivan Zwart Statistician: Liss Ralston Partner Organisations City of Boroondara, City of Darebin, City of Maribyrnong, City of Melbourne, City of Moreland, Shire of Nillumbik, City of Port Phillip, City of Whittlesea, Victorian Local Governance Association. Published May 2007 by Swinburne Institute for Social Research Swinburne University of Technology PO Box 218 Hawthorn Victoria 3122 Australia T +61 3 9214 8825 F +61 3 9819 5349 Email: [email protected] © Copyright Swinburne Institute for Social Research 2007 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any other process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Community Consultation and the ‘Hard to Reach’ Nillumbik Shire Council Case Study Report Contents Introduction.................................... 1 Why the case study was chosen ...........1 Who is hard to reach and why? ... 3 Problems with ‘hard to reach’ terminology...3 Origins and usage of ‘hard to reach’............3 Who is identified as hard to reach? .............4 Sampling ‘hard to reach’..............................5 Case study context ....................... 7 Legitimacy of the participation process .7 Democratic legitimacy of public participation ...........................................8 Models of public participation ................9 Methods for participant recruitment.....12 Background to the consultation 15 Shire of Nillumbik profile summary......15 Demographic Indicators.......................17 Social and Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) .....................................................17 Transience ................................................18 Housing tenure..........................................19 Labour force status....................................19 Household income.....................................19 Employment and hours worked .................19 Journey to work.........................................20 Household Composition ............................20 Country of birth..........................................20 Indicators of community strength.........20 Who is hard to reach in Nillumbik?......22 Melbourne 2030 ..................................22 Interface council ..................................24 Financial issues...................................25 Implications for resource planning.......26 Consultation on the Nillumbik Strategic Resource Plan............. 27 Workshops ..........................................28 Promotion..................................................28 Consultation on Council Plan and Strategic Resource Plan Workshop format ...................................... 31 Representativeness of workshops ......32 Participant Evaluation................. 35 Workshop outcomes............................38 The Survey..........................................40 Representativeness of survey respondents.........................................41 Survey results........................................... 42 Council Plan 2006-2010............................ 43 Strategic Resource Plan and Budget Kit... 45 Implications for the ‘hard to reach’ project........................................... 47 Recommendations ...................... 51 Participation strategy...........................51 Representativeness of the consultation ............................................................51 Decision making based on consultation outcomes.............................................52 Planning and resource allocation ........52 Skills development ..............................52 Knowledge management.....................52 References ................................... 54 Appendix 1 ................................... 57 Appendix 2 ................................... 59 Appendix 3 ................................... 61 Appendix 4 ................................... 63 Appendix 5 ................................... 69 Community Consultation and the ‘Hard to Reach’ Nillumbik Shire Council Case Study Report Introduction This report is part of a series of case each partner council. In order to gain study reports for the Community a balanced insight into current Consultation and the ‘Hard to Reach’ practice, case studies were matched research project. The project is to provide examples of a range of investigating how community levels of consultation: consultation is currently practised by • high level strategic planning Victorian councils, especially in relation to multiple publics and • place based issues groups that councils can find hard to • service reviews reach. • issue based consultations The project is a collaborative • consultations aimed at research venture with eight Victorian involving specific ‘hard to local councils, the Victorian Local reach’ groups Governance Association and • community development. researchers from Swinburne University. The three year project is The matched case studies will assist jointly funded by the Australian the greater Community Consultation Research Council, the Cities of and the ‘Hard to Reach’ project to Boroondara, Darebin, Maribyrnong, provide some useful resources for Melbourne, Moreland, Port Phillip each of the partner councils, as well and Whittlesea, and the Shire of as a broader commentary and Nillumbik. The eight participating analysis of the challenges faced councils comprise inner city as well when councils attempt to consult with as city fringe locations, homogenous or engage their communities. and highly ethnically and culturally diverse populations, economically Why the case study was advantaged and disadvantaged chosen areas, well established and newly The Strategic Resource Plan (SRP) developing areas, municipalities with and review of the Council Plan 2006- a long-standing commitment to 09 was chosen as an example of a community consultation as well as consultation about a high level those which are still developing their strategy or plan which affects all policies and practices. While the members of the Nillumbik councils chosen may not be community. Consultations associated statistically representative, the range with the development of future- of contexts and socio-demographic oriented high level strategic characteristics reflect the attitudes documents such as Council Plans, and practice of community Municipal Strategic Statements and consultation as it is currently taking Municipal Health Plans are usually place in Victoria. considered particularly difficult in As part of this research, a detailed terms of attracting community case study is being conducted with interest and contribution from 1 Consultation on Council Plan and Strategic Resource Plan participants that are broadly therefore committed to strengthening representative of the community. its consultation processes to engage People tend to be reluctant to get a diverse range of local people and involved, due to the complexity and show them that their input has made multi-faceted nature of some strategy a difference. As a consequence, a documents. It is difficult to persuade subset of the consultation was them to see the immediate impact of concerned with exploring how people a policy or strategy, or its relevance would like to be consulted. to their own lives. Involving a wide As part of the case study range of community members in methodology, Nicola Brackertz, a such planning exercises involves researcher from Swinburne considerable time and resources and University, attended most of the it is often felt that, in such cases, 1 consultation workshops and liaised everyone is hard to reach. closely with Council staff and the All councils are required to produce a consultant. To gain a good Council Plan, which is a four-year understanding of the process, document that identifies key strategic interviews were conducted with areas, as well as indicators for Jacky Close from Council’s Social achieving these. The SRP is linked to Planning Unit and Mike Tierney from the Council Plan and specifies how Tierney Andrews Consulting at key the priorities identified in the Council stages of the consultation process. Plan can be resourced. The Council also facilitated access to Nillumbik Council Plan 2006-09 background information about the names the following key service consultation, reports and other areas: relevant data. • Environment (natural, built and cultural) • Health and wellbeing • Community assets • Governance and community engagement. Another aspect of the consultation lay in Council’s desire to do real community consultation (Nillumbik Shire Council 2006a). In the Council Plan 2006-09 the Shire pledged itself to listening to the community to gather information about community needs, which will inform and direct the work of Council. Council is 1 Compare Brackertz, Zwart et al. (2005). 2 Community Consultation and the ‘Hard to Reach’ Nillumbik Shire Council Case Study Report Who is hard to reach and why? In the context of local government, The problem with using the term ‘hard to reach’ is a term sometimes