Having your Say: Public Paricipation in Government Decision-Making

Report No 1 - February 2007

Background

Effective public participation is becoming more important as government and the community seek and expect public input into government decision-making processes. Public participation involves a range of activities, from informing to involving the public in making decisions that directly affect them.

This report examines the nature and extent of public participation conducted by State government agencies focusing on the challenges involved in effectively progressing public participation. In view of the emerging and often innovative nature of public participation activity, we have taken a forward-looking approach in order to highlight opportunities for improving public participation practice.

The examination included detailed analysis of seven examples of recent public participation, including a review of agency policies and records and consultation with external stakeholders. In addition, it involved obtaining a broad overview of public participation activity across government in 2005-06 and liaison with public participation professionals across government.

What the examination found...

Our examination found there are pockets of excellent public participation practice in Western Australia. However, these tend to be isolated examples. Government agencies need to be clearer about why they are involving the public, including the extent of the involvement they want the public to have. Agencies must also be accountable for the time and resources spent on involving the public, as well as keeping better records of the costs and benefi ts of these activities.

The key findings are:

• Western Australian State government agencies have conducted some public participation that is recognised as leading edge
• most public participation involves informing and obtaining feedback
• agencies are not always clear about why they are using public participation
• practices vary across and within agencies, offering examples of good practice and opportunities for improvements
• in the absence of good records:
  • some agencies cannot demonstrate that the public participation represented the views of the community or that resulting decisions were based on community views
  • agencies have not retained corporate knowledge about what worked and what did not
  • agencies do not know the full cost of public participation activities.

What the examination recommended...

Government agencies should:

• build on good practice examples to consider a wider range of public participation techniques and level of public involvement in decision-making
• be clear about why they are using public participation, how it will infl uence agency decisions, and choose approaches matched to this intent
• act on the results of the public participation in accordance with the intended level of influence
• explore strategies for involving people who typically do not involve themselves in public participation forums but who may be affected by a decision
• provide timely and comprehensive feedback to participants
• keep accurate and comprehensive records of public participation, including costs where this is appropriate for the project.

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