Hard to reach? Engagement, governance and community consultation in Victorian local government

Under the Bracks Labour government in Victoria, the community strengthening agenda has emerged as a vehicle to promote community engagement, joined up government and networked approaches to governance. Its key dimensions challenge conventional relationships between state, federal and local governments and the top-down relationship between government and community; networked models of partnerships between public and private actors are favoured for the development of policy and the delivery of services. Local government is identified as a key player in this agenda through the work it already undertakes with local communities and as the site where localised reforms are likely to have the greatest impact. Increasing community involvement in local government decision-making through community consultation forms part of this agenda. Traditionally designed to obtain procedural legitimisation prior to decision-making, community consultation is now seen as a mechanism that will also connect citizens with each other and with government, will increase social capital, and will ensure effective and responsive policy and services delivery. The convergence of local government and community sits at odds with traditional models of representative democracy and raises challenges for management, accountability and citizenship in local government. Using case studies from eight Victorian local councils, this paper investigates how community consultation is played out in practice. What is the role of community consultation in community strengthening? What is the capacity of local governments to connect widely with multiple publics, in particular groups who may not be inclined to participate? The term ‘hard to reach’ is sometimes used to describe these demographics. Our research indicates that ‘hard to reach’ is not a quality endemic to certain community groups, but that it depends on the willingness and ability of local councils to identify and reach out to groups who are reluctant to participate via traditional means. [Introduction]