A strategy designed to improve public service engagement with remote communities, the Remote Engagement and Coordination Strategy (RECS) has taken out the Indigenous Projects category and was highly commended for Project of the Year in the 2016 International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia Core Values Awards.
The strategy, developed by the Department of Housing and Community Development, aims to improve services provided by public servants and visitors to remote communities through a common engagement and coordination framework.
Developing the project included team members attending six participatory workshops over several months with government and local council staff co-facilitated by the Northern Institute of Charles Darwin University and extensive research into best practice consultation.
As well as providing practical tips and tools to build the capacity of staff to better engage with community decision-makers, the strategy promotes the importance of capturing and acting on community feedback, and reducing the burden of engagement on remote community members by avoiding duplication and unnecessary consultation.
Program coordinator Martin Plumb said “We are thrilled with the recognition the strategy has received through participating in these awards.
“The benefit to the communities of implementing this strategy will hopefully be less unnecessary engagement, reducing the burden to meet as often with government representatives and a clearer understanding of what visitors want to discuss before they arrive in a remote community.
“By changing the behaviour of visitors to remote communities and coordinating systems across government we are making it easier to raise and resolve issues locally” Mr Plumb said.
The strategy is based heavily on IAP2’s internationally recognised engagement methodology and the department partners with IAP2 in the delivery of training to Northern Territory public servants in all regional centres.
The Core Values Awards were created to encourage excellence, quality and innovation in public participation. They recognise and encourage projects that demonstrate leading practice and organisations that are at the forefront of public participation.
Access the Remote Engagement and Coordination online toolkit at: http://www.bushready.nt.gov.au/
Media Contact: Peta Butler 8999 8341