RECEIVE UPDATESCommunity Engagement
The ACT Greens believe:
1. community engagement provides a meaningful role for the community to be involved in government decision-making at a range of levels
2. ACT Government decision-making, legislation, policy and programs should be informed by ongoing community engagement
3. the full range of informative, consultative, participatory and deliberative community engagement processes should be utilised
4. it is necessary to match the scale of community engagement processes appropriately to the potential impact of ACT Government legislation, policy and programs
5. community engagement requires adequate, balanced, and timely involvement of a diverse range of groups to be effective and meaningful
6. the ACT Government has a responsibility to ensure community engagement processes are transparent
The ACT Greens want:
1. the ACT Government to become a national leader in participatory governance
2. mutual trust, respect and increased cooperation in decision-making between the ACT Government and the ACT public
3. free, timely and accessible information to ACT residents and stakeholders about ACT Government activity
4. maximum participation of community organisations and individuals in public debate without fear of retribution
5. to include marginalised groups in community engagement activities.
The ACT Greens support:
1. re-establishing, with sufficient resources, the Community Engagement Unit within the Chief Minister’s Department
2. incentives for ACT Government agencies to demonstrate excellence in community engagement activities
3. updating the Community Engagement Manual to include deliberative democratic processes , and extend the training of ACT Government officers in its effective use
4. ensuring that community engagement processes are adequately and appropriately resourced
5. implementing community engagement timeframes that reflect the needs of the process and participants
6. providing information to the community about processes in which they participate, including reasons for taking up or rejecting recommendations
7. providing adequately staffed and resourced ACT Government shopfronts in all major town centres
8. ensuring ACT Government Internet sites are user-friendly, informative, up to date and include means to provide feedback
9. ensuring that the ACT Library Service holds a full range of ACT Government documents and publications
10. mandating the inclusion of a formal statement, modelled on the Human Rights Compatibility Statement, with all proposed ACT legislation which details the community engagement undertaken in its development
11. adopting plain English principles, where possible, in text used in community engagement and ensuring adequate resources are available for non-English speakers
12. strengthening guidelines for consistent and timely ministerial response to matters raised during community engagement processes
13. adopting legislation to outlaw Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation
14. assisting organisations delivering government-funded services to institute appropriate community engagement and performance reporting measures, using the Community Compact framework
15. increasing the capacity for ACT Government agencies to release data, analysis, research and other papers of public interest
16. increasing resources for volunteer registers linking community and non-profit organisations with professionals who can provide independent advice on a pro-bono basis.
