Public Participation, Community Consultation and Engagement

Public participation at the City of Ballarat introduces a framework that provides consistency in the public participation, community consultation and engagement practices of Council and:

to ensure that public participation processes are integrated with policies, plans and strategies of the Council

to enhance the capacity of Council and its officers in public participation practices.

This framework has been formally adopted by the Council as the preferred community consultation/public participation model in October 2006.

What is public participation?

Public participation can be defined as 'providing opportunities for people who are affected by or interested in a Council decision to participate in the decision making process in order to enhance the resulting decision, plan or project'. The key benefit of public participation is to improve or enhance outcomes through more informed decisions.

Public participation is about sharing information and involving the community and key stakeholders in the decision making process. It includes the implicit commitment that the community's contribution will influence the decision.

Public participation does not replace Council's responsibility for decision making. The purpose of gaining input from the community is to enhance Council's decision.

Democratic Governance

Democratic governance ensures community participation and input into governance and decision-making.

Public participation is a way of obtaining community input into the decision-making process. It ensures that views on community issues can be identified and communicated to Council.

Open and Inclusive Government

Ballarat City Council represents all of its citizens. Its framework for effective public participation is based on some important principles:

• Council will always be clear and open about its intentions and actions
• Council will always be prepared to listen to people
• Council will have proper processes for information gathering and public exchange
• Council recognises the legitimacy of diverse groups to enter debates
• Council will accept criticism
• Council will encourage and support structures and processes for community participation and consultation
• Council will recognise the needs of the non-English speaking community.

As a part of its commitment to the effectiveness of a consultation, Council's associated decision-making processes will be evaluated after a final decision has been made.

The Model

The International Association of Public Participation have authorised Ballarat City Council to use their IAP2 framework and toolkit and these are the foundations of our participation framework. A complete copy is available for your use (see files below).

This model uses a spectrum to determine the scope, tools and techniques for conducting public participation in each of the following areas:

• Inform
• Consult
• Involve
• Collaborate
• Empower

Also included is a toolbox which is a series of techniques which can be employed to assist in your public participation goal.

Applying this Model

This model is to be utilised when public participation, community consultation and engagement is undertaken with the citizens of Ballarat.

Contact Details

For further information please contact Annie DeJong, Manager Information Services,  by phone 03 5320 5550 or email anniedejong@ballarat.vic.gov.au.

Downloads

IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum.pdf (PDF - 48KB)

IAP2 Public Participation Toolbox (PDF - 182KB)