Council is improving how it designs and promotes community engagement opportunities to provide greater access and meaningful involvement for the community through its new Community Engagement Poilicy.
At its April Council meeting, Cardinia Shire Council approved its new Community Engagement Policy 2025–29, following a comprehensive review of the previous policy.
Feedback from community, Council staff and the new Council in 2024 and early 2025 helped shape the policy review, while also informing the creation of a new set of guidelines to help support Council officers in developing inclusive and meaningful engagement projects.
Council heard the community's calls for more interactive and meaningful engagement opportunities, more ways to become informed and have their say, and to have localised activities to improve awareness about, and access to, engagement opportunities.
Maintaining Council's commitment to foster an inclusive, accessible, transparent and accountable engagement process, the new Community Engagement Policy and accompanying internal guidelines introduce several key improvements to better meet the needs and expectations of Cardinia Shire's diverse community.
The Community Engagement Policy 2025–29 aims to deliver:
- Inclusive and accessible engagement: The new employee guidelines provide advice for creating accessible content, using inclusive language, and ensuring cultural safety, making it easier for all community members to participate.
- Diverse engagement methods and tailored promotion: A variety of engagement and communications methods and tools will be used to create and promote interactive and meaningful feedback opportunities, ensuring a variety of audiences are reached and diverse perspectives are considered.
- Multiple avenues for participation: Community members are able to participate in consultation activities through various channels, which may include hardcopy information at public venues, online platforms, and face-to-face opportunities.
- Clear communication: Engagement opportunities will continue to clearly identify which elements of a project the community can influence, to what level, and how their input will be used.
- Transparent reporting: Engagement projects will continue to report back to the community, explaining what was asked, what was heard, what was actioned, and the next steps in the process.
Cardinia Shire Mayor Councillor Jack Kowarzik expressed thanks to the community for their invaluable input during the review process.
"Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping a policy that truly reflects our community's desire to be involved in decisions on matters and projects important to them," Mayor Kowarzik said.
"Because we know our community is as unique as each project we embark upon, we recognise that listening to and considering your input is invaluable and essential to our success. And, this is something that we are deeply committed to.
"We look forward to seeing how this new policy transforms the way our community is informed, consulted, involved, collaborated with, and empowered in the decision-making process at a Local Government level."
Council's Community Engagement Policy provides clear direction around when, with whom and how Council will engage the community in its projects through the community engagement process.
