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Have you been involved in consultation run by ACT government? What do you believe were the best features of a consultation in which you were involved in the past and what didn’t work for you?
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Comment 1 29 May 2009, 10:08 PM
I have been involved in several consultations run by the ACT Governemnt.
The best features were those in Consultations run by Consultants who gave participants the opportunity to express their views equally. The best Consultation was run by a solicitor who gave equal opportunity to each participant and did not give more weight to views expressed by Government and NGO employees.
Didn't work:-
One Consultation of 3 hours duration was frustrating because the facilitator took up 70% of the time "educating" participants about "how to communicate"! This was a waste of valuable time. One Carer had to leave because his available time had more…
Comment 1.1 30 May 2009, 3:58 PM
I have had similar experiences.
Access and feeling that the Consultant is listening make big differences to how participants respond.
I think that the tendency of Consultants to devote more time to "professionals" can be a deterrent to others.
Consultations "after work" make it difficult for those with children - going out at night in winter is also not encouraging.
Max Hardy Comment 1.1.1 Project Coordinator 31 May 2009, 12:51 PM
Steffi, I agree that some processes, and some facilitarors, favour particular individuals and groups. What might be the best way to involve parents of school age children?
Comment 1.1.1.1 11 Jun 2009, 12:28 PM
Providing several opportunities to attend public meetings (ie: different times of day, locations and various dates to allow more people to attend), instead of just one time and place. Maybe even have information and feedback stalls in the malls during lunch hours (again, not just on a single day) for the working parents.
More online surveys/polls/sites like this one would work well for the time-limited who have access.
Ensuring equitable options are provided for communities where socio-economics mean that getting online or transport to meetings might be a difficulty that would prevent attendance.
And perhaps most importantly, letting people know that their opinion actually matters and that the effort will be worth it. I have seen previously disenfranchised communities choose not to bother because they think there is no point - they don't believe that anyone will really listen to them. Given the way the current government has only pretended to listen in the majority of cases, some serious public relations work would be needed to change this point of view in various communities.
Max Hardy Comment 1.2 Project Coordinator 1 Jun 2009, 7:09 PM
BlackAnnie, I'd really appreciate if you could look at the Principles document in the library on this site. Do you think we could add some examples that address some of the concerns you have raised?
Comment 1.3 2 Jun 2009, 12:43 AM
It's not always easy to speak up in a meeting. There are so many people who are good at it that its sometimes hard to have the confidence when you are not.
Comment 2 30 May 2009, 6:00 PM
I have been involved in many consultations. What is most frustrating is where the community has a clear view as you can see from the public meeting but the government goes and does something different. If it does not want our views - don't consult!
Comment 2.1 31 May 2009, 9:41 AM
I have been involved in many consultations too.
Sometimes the consultant will sum up the consultation accurately and the results will be totally ignored by the government.
Sometimes the consultant sums up the meeting and I wonder if they were in the same meeting as me! In these instances I assume the consultant is told what to report back, regardless of what is actually communicated by the public in the consultation session.
Max Hardy Comment 2.2 Project Coordinator 31 May 2009, 12:48 PM
Clec, one of the issues about public meetings is that they are rarely representative of the broader community. For instance, you don't see many young people attending, nor parents of school age children. I'd be interested in your thoughts about what methods could best ensure input from a cross section of the ACT community.
I'd also be interested in your comments about the 'principles' document in the library. Thanks.
Comment 2.3 4 Jun 2009, 5:49 PM
My experience with consultations run by the ACT Government makes me sceptical of being involved again. Two big issues -
(1) the co-ordinator so defined the topic(s) to be discussed that genuine discussion on the issues that concerned attendees was prevented - very authoritaritavily in one case;
(2)the discussion leader was clearly briefed as to the outcome that was acceptable to the government - and flatly refused to allow anyone in the group to propose alternatives.
If the government wants to pretend to consult when in fact it has already made up its mind it is simply insulting the voters of ACT. Either consult genuinely or not at all
Comment 2.3.1 12 Jun 2009, 11:27 AM
I agree, if you've decided already dont waste our time.
Comment 3 12 Jun 2009, 11:26 AM
I used this website to talk about the former school sites. It was a good way to get involved but lacked follow up which made me wonder if we were really listened to.
Comment 4 12 Jun 2009, 1:14 PM
"Consultation" angers and alienates people if it is not genuine. The ACT Government never wanted our views about schools, only introduced "consultation" because of the outcry, never provided the information that the community asked for to inform its opinions and worst of all the Government's response to the consultation was printed before the closing date for consultation and was so blandly worded that it clearly ignored public input. The Stanhope Government clearly did not trust its citizens to come up with answers it would accept. It KNEW that it knew better than the parents, teachers and citizens who actually ran more…
Comment 4.1 17 Jun 2009, 7:04 AM
I'm involved in a semi consultation process through an ACT government school now.
The new Kingsford Smith School has had an enormous bullying problem since opening this year, with children gang bashed, hit with skateboards and even victimised in the classroom, with a number of good children moved away from teachers they liked due to the school's problems in maintaining classroom discipline and unwillingness to move bullies. There is evidence that integration between the different former school groups of children is very slow, with evidence of organised violence between kids from different former schools.
The school is attempting to build a unifying more…
Max Hardy Comment 4.1.1 Project Coordinator 22 Jun 2009, 2:16 PM
Craig, I wonder what sort of consultation would be valued by parents/caregivers in such a situation? I recall having a similar experience abou 15 years ago in NSW. I guess the first stage is having the school recognise that there is a problem and the second that engaging parents can add value. It's a major problem if the school is in denial. For this topic - around improving community engagement - I wonder if you have some practical suggestions about a good way to make sure that parents cn get involved, and work with the school to address the bullying situation. Given that many parents are very busy, is online engagement attractive? If a meeting is called, how is this best done and arranged, and what would make it easier for parents to find time to be there? How well are meetings of this kind facilitated by teachers/principal or the president of the P & C?
Comment 4.2 10 Jul 2009, 2:07 PM
The school consultaion process was very emotional, I thank the ACT government staff who I have rung on several occassions for their professionalism, politeness and willingness to try and assit in any queries.
Comment 5 24 Jun 2009, 8:23 PM
I have been involved in a number of ACT consultation processes. One which was relatively successful was the 21st century town meeting on whether the ACT should build a new dam to increase water supplies and the one which was not successful was the consultation on the closure of Melrose Primary school, my local primary school which my children attended.
The water 21st century town meeting was good because it provided information and a method for ensuring people were able to express their views and see that they were considered. It involved having about 7 or 8 people around a table, with a facilitator and somebody recording the discussions on a computer linked to a central coordinator compiling the results coming in. Its main shortcoming was that the time provided for that consultation was inadequate and the process was too rushed.
The school consultation process was poor and frustrating as there was no opportunity for participants to deliberate together, to consider real options and to feel that their views were really considered. It was just a public meeting where comments were made and a brief survey of views on paper collected.
Comment 6 10 Jul 2009, 2:00 PM
I have been involved in the Cook school site consultation process. I was dissappointed intially as Purdon & Asscoiates were appointed in the first round and they displayed a strong bias. Consultants engaged should be with out prejudice and bias on the subject.