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Community engagement showcasing events

• Brisbane Community Engagement Showcase 2007
• Brisbane City Council Showcase
  • Creative Democracy - Homelessness
  • Engaging communities using cultural processes - Chermside Community Hub
• Central Queensland Showcase
  • Devising and implementing the District Youth Achievement Plan for the ETRF Senior Phase of Learning
  • Integrated Area-Wide Management as an Approach to Landscape Management
  • Rolleston Coal Project
  • Yeppoon Western Bypass Road
• Emergency Services Showcase
  • Community Safety Project
  • Engaging Indigenous Communities
  • Local Ambulance Committees
  • Queensland Ambulance Service First Responders
• Goodna Outreach Showcase
• Hervey Bay Showcase
  • Australian Industry Engineering Manufacturing Network Ltd
  • Wide Bay Burnett Human Services Network
  • New prison in a new town
• Ipswich Showcase
  • Swanbank Community Reference Group
  • Community Hubs Project in Esk Shire
  • Ipswich Area Regional Disability Council (IARDC)
• Mackay Showcase
  • Mackay Highlands Coordinating Committee
  • Queensland Marine Academy
  • Mackay Childhood Injury Prevention Project
  • Mackay Alcohol and Other Drugs Community Partnership
• NRM Showcase
  • Review of Ministerial Advisory Arrangements
  • CHRRUPP Experiment and Future Options for Community Engagement
  • Community Involvement in Mary River Planning
• Queensland Police Service Showcase
  • Mareeba Truancy and Graffiti (TAG) project
  • Community Support
  • Mareeba Shire Council - Local Government view
  • Mareeba State High School - Community Education Counsellor view
  • Mareeba State High School - Education view
• Townsville Showcase
  • La Luna Youth Art
  • Minimizing Road Trauma
  • Speak Out 2003
  • Palm Island Community Youth Centre Consultation Process
  • District Youth Achievement Plan
  • Young Achievement Enterprise Education Program

Ipswich Showcase

Ipswich Area Regional Disability Council (IARDC)

• Background
• What is different about this case study that shows how government and communities can better engage with each other?
• What are the key learnings/insights about community engagement?
• What are the key outcomes of the case study for government and community?
• What are the key learnings/insights about community engagement?

This case study illustrates the difference made to a region and a traditionally hard-to-reach community by the formation of a community-based group that has created avenues for productive public involvement in government decision-making.

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Background

The IARDC is one of ten volunteer councils established throughout Queensland by Disability Services Queensland (DSQ). The Council aims to provide opportunities for people with a disability, their families and advocates, as well as service providers and local communities to work together to improve the quality of life for people with a disability. Local issues raised by the IARDC which have state-wide significance are forwarded to the Disability Council of Queensland (DCQ) for discussion and action.

The 9-member IARDC covers the local government areas of Ipswich, Boonah, Esk, Laidley and Gatton. It conducts bi-monthly Public Forums in these areas in partnership with DSQ to assist communities to address community needs and problem-solve local issues. The Council has also helped set up local Disability Support Groups in Boonah and Lockyer. These groups have acted as catalysts for community action in addressing disability service issues, as well as advocating for improved access to health services, transport and education.

A key feature of the IARDC is the partnership role it undertakes with Government through active participation of Council members in DSQ regional planning development and review, funding reform and allocation, and recruitment and selection of regional staff. There is also strong involvement at DSQ Regional Director level in IARDC activities, with the result that issues in local communities receive attention at policy and program development levels in Government.

What is different about this case study that shows how government and communities can better engage with each other?

Prior to the formation of the IARDC:

• there was a need for more effective information dissemination and few financial resources available to people with disability, their carers and advocates in areas outside Ipswich;
• there was a lack of integrated planning between all levels of government, resulting in fragmented service delivery;
• there was little community participation in decisions about strategic DSQ issues.

The Council has actively engaged the community to change this situation through:

• being inclusive and diverse in that it is comprised of people who combine local knowledge with disability-specific knowledge. This has enabled DSQ and other Government agencies to connect with those who are often hardest to reach.
• working in active partnership with the regional office of DSQ to determine the delivery of disability services to the region (such as providing input to funding reform consultations), and to dispel scepticism in the disability community based on previous negative experiences of government. Through the committed involvement of regional management, an active link within and across Government for the negotiation of solutions to regional disability issues has been established. The IARDC has confidently built on this network to approach and engage all levels of government on projects of mutual interest, such as:
  • local councils on paving and disability access;
  • the Queensland Government on a joint employment and training initiative; and
  • the Commonwealth on access to disability pensions.

What are the key outcomes of the case study for government and community?

The success of the IARDC has led to outcomes for both government and community.

1. Increased opportunities for active participation by the community in State Government decision-making for people with a disability. This has been demonstrated in Boonah where the local disability support group has been instrumental in the development of an application which resulted in the provision of $650,000 in funding to provide a multi-purpose centre and to meet the respite needs of local carers.
2. Improvements in the coordination of community engagement activities with relevant levels of government has led to more integrated service provision and whole-of-government consideration of disability-related issues.
3. A noticeable reaching out by government to a community which has been isolated from participating in government decision-making, fragmented by the nature of its many advocacy groups and cynical about involvement with government. For example, new ways of engagement through the public forums have:
   • improved community access to information and decisions on government programs and initiatives; and
   • led to the formation of a focus group in Toogoolwah to work with Queensland Transport, Queensland Health and Esk Shire Council on a Transport Strategy for people with a disability and elderly residents needing to access health care.

Outcomes for the Queensland Government from its engagement with community have been the improved access to disability services, and the availability of the IARDC as a community partner with strong local credibility for the planning of future services.

What are the key learnings/insights about community engagement?

Key learnings and insights for government, community and for service providers are:

1. The relationship between the partners in engagement must be based on trust and mutual respect, which comes from the credibility of the participants with the community and government.
2. For government there have been learnings about changing the way it has engaged with the community. This has occurred through:
   • information-sharing at public forums held in previously isolated locations;
   • working with the IARDC, local business and other levels of government to conduct community consultation at barbecues and social events;
   • making a regular place at the table for productive involvement by Council in DSQ strategic and planning decisions.
3. Expectations generated for the community by ongoing engagement need to be managed. Strong associated networks need to be in place to support issues which cannot be dealt with in the particular engagement context, and this needs to be agreed on from the outset. For example, the Council has not dealt with individual disability issues but has links to other providers/advocacy groups to take care of these.
4. A demonstrated commitment to community engagement (Government's funding provision of $10,000 for IARDC running costs) is important, but sustainable resourcing alternatives should be explored as the process matures.
5. The high priority placed by DSQ on engagement with the disability community through the Council has established it as a sustainable hub for associated networks, benefiting people with a disability in the local community as well as Government and corporate sector stakeholders.

What will sustain community engagement into the future in this case study?

Effective community engagement in this case study is likely to be sustained by:

• a strong commitment by the partners to the process and its outcomes, and an adequate time to build the relationships;
• maintaining the IARDC experience of working with volunteers in this (disability) sector and an ongoing investment in building IARDC and community leadership capacity for the future to effectively engage with the most marginalised;
• maintaining the 'bottom line' of trust and mutual respect established by engaging community in local environments and delivering on promises;
• accessing alternative funding sources which are sustainable; and
• the continuation and expansion of active participation by community members in government decisions which affect their lives (as in the IARDC/DSQ relationship).