Temporary Closures: Current advice
Commitment to Community Engagement
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Commitment to Community Engagement
In 2022, the National Capital Authority (NCA) commissioned an independent survey to ask feedback from the public on their preferred methods of engagement with the NCA.
Responses were collated and have informed the new and updated Commitment to Engagement (CCE) which will serve as the framework to underpin the NCA’s public consultations from 2023 and onwards.
The NCA has established a “Consultation Protocol” since 2007, affirmed by a “Commitment to Community Engagement” (CCE) adopted in 2011 and revised in 2015. Since then, the landscape for community engagement has evolved, with increasing proportions of time and engagement spent online and technology providing new platforms for engagement. The NCA felt there was a need to review and refresh its approach to provide all Australians more avenues to get involved in shaping their national capital.
The NCA conducted an Australia-wide survey in May-June 2022 to seek Australians’ views on how we could improve our community engagement and consultation methods. We promoted this survey via targeted emails to peak planning and architecture groups, NCA general email lists, the NCA website, and various social media platforms. We received 241 responses over a period of 6 weeks. A summary of the survey findings is available as a PDF (Attachment 1) in the downloads section at the bottom of this page. Your survey results have influenced our draft Commitment to Community Engagement policy.
The NCA is a member of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and uses the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation framework (please see page 9 of the policy).
The NCA’s revitalised CCE is attached below (Attachment 2).
File download
Document
The Authority of the National Capital Authority reaffirms its strong commitment to engage with the community, as part of its decision making. The Authority recognises that inclusion and engagement, particularly at the early and formative stages of projects and proposals, are vital to building and maintaining community trust.
In 2014, the National Capital Authority undertook a review of its protocols and practices with the aim of meeting the expectations from the community in how it engaged with them, while balancing available resources in delivering the NCA’s priorities. The review enabled the NCA to explore best practice in engaging with stakeholders and interested parties when undertaking public consultation. The improved revision of its consultation protocol, Commitment to Community Engagement (August 2015) encompasses:
- the adoption of the International Association for Public Participation (iap2) model of best practice of engaging with the community;
- undertaking joint consultations with ACT Government agencies where appropriate;
- consolidating the protocols for assessing development applications;
- additional commitments on consultation for major works within the areas of national importance; and
- improvements to the language, formatting and structure of the document.
The NCA’s Commitment to Community Engagement serves five key purposes:
- express the NCA’s commitment to better connections with the people of Canberra and the nation
- provide an action plan for community engagement programs and activities
- formalise consultation requirements
- outline the NCA Service Charter for planning and development approvals, and
- provide feedback and complaint handling procedures.
As part of the ongoing commitment to engage with the public, the NCA invites interested parties to register their or their group’s details at the link below, so that they can be advised directly about projects and proposals which may be of interest.
Click here to become a Key Stakeholder
Engagement with key stakeholders does not replace public consultation, but offers an efficient mechanism for seeking a broad range of views on a particular topic.
Key stakeholders should be aware that the name of the group and the groups 'area of interest' will be published on the website. Contact details of individuals associated with stakeholders will not be published on the NCA website, but will be used by the NCA in the course of communication with those groups. Contact details of individuals associated with stakeholder groups will also be made available to project proponents for the purposes of consultation and engagement.