Last year we asked how you want to be involved in decision making in Yarra. We asked what decisions are most important to you, how you would like to be involved and what might encourage or prevent you from having your say.

We learnt so much from nearly 400 community contributions and your input has helped us create a draft Community Engagement Policy and a draft Action Plan. Now we want you to tell us if we got it right.

Share your feedback on the draft policy by filling in the survey below by Friday 3 July.

Who did we talk to?

We talked to people across Yarra to make sure we heard from diverse groups in our community. As well as promoting the online survey we:

  • went out to community events
  • invited all our community advisory groups to participate
  • reached out to culturally and linguistically diverse communities through our neighbourhood houses
  • involved children and young people in a range of projects
  • used different methods to make sure we heard from our growing renter population.

What you told us

Some key things we learnt from your feedback were:

You want to be able to quickly identify how a decision might impact you, your family or your neighborhood.

Understanding the decision, the influence you have and that your input will be heard is more important to you than engaging in something that is quick but less meaningful.

Being empowered with information and receiving it through the right channels is really important to encourage some groups to participate, particularly young people (12-24 year olds) and our culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Different groups in our community prioritise the decisions they want to be involved in differently but on some things there is broad agreement.

Just a few examples include:

  • Renters in multi-unit developments rate planning for open space a number one priority, while for apartment owners urban planning is more important.
  • For renters generally, libraries are the stand out priority and for people living in public housing it is services supporting community well-being.
  • We heard that all age groups rate planning for environment and sustainability outcomes a very high priority.

How did we do?

We'd like your feedback on the draft policy outlining our commitments and standards as well as the the draft action plan that describes how we will deliver them.
Firstly, how do you rate the nine commitments that shape our policy and our accountability?
Highly supportive
Supportive
I'm not sure
Not really supportive
I definitely do not support this
Representative: We identify people and groups likely to be affected by our decision, and ensure they have the chance to participate.
Accessible: We use methods that empower underrepresented groups to get involved. We use a variety of online, print and face-to-face methods to maximise our reach and remove potential barriers.
Meaningful: We empower stakeholders with relevant, objective and plain English information and resources to allow informed participation.
Transparent: We explain which elements the community can influence, to what level and how we will use our community’s input.
Accountable: We report back to the community, explaining what we asked, what we heard, and what we did.
Respectful: We value and respect our community’s time, engaging closely when their influence is high and scaling back when it is more limited.
Flexible: We adapt to evolving circumstances, including allowing for newly identified stakeholders to engage as necessary throughout the process.
Supportive: We advocate on behalf of the Yarra community where the work of external agencies (including other tiers of government) impacts our community.
Prepared: We ensure our engagement practitioners and decision makers have the right training, guidance and resources.

And now tell us if you support the approach we have taken in the draft action plan

1. Transparent and consistent

These actions are about clearly communicating the scope of decisions, the role of the community and level of influence available to the community. We will introduce standard tools to ensure we are consistent in our approach, we report back on actions and outcomes and the community know what standards to expect.

I fully support this approach
I think I support this
Not sure
I don't think I support this
I definitely don't support this
How do you feel about this approach?
2. Representative and inclusive

These actions are about making sure we regularly up date our understanding of our community and how to best actively reach out to those who are impacted or interested in decisions. This will include using different methods to suit different groups in our community such as children and young people or groups at risk of not being represented for example.

I fully support this approach
I think I support this approach
Not sure
I don't think I support this
I definitely don't support this
How do you feel about this approach?
3. Informed and meaningful

We want to ensure those affected by or interested in a decision are informed with timely, relevant and objective information and we provide this in plain English and accessible formats. We also want to make sure the methods we use are right for the purpose as well as the level of impact on a community and influence available to the community. This includes using online engagement methods that support a neighbourhood approach where its needed.

I fully support this
I think I support this
Not sure
I don't think I support this
I definitely don't support this
How do you feel about this approach?
Respecting and strengthening community

4. We value our communities time and resources so we're proposing a process that invites engagement in decisions early when influence is most possible. We want to ensure we the range of perspectives and experiences in our community are heard through the development of the Yarra (long term) Community Vision and we'll explore ways to harness community feedback and advocate on behalf of our community where necessary to other levels of government.

I fully support this approach
I think I support this approach
Not sure
I don't think I support this
I definitely don't support this
How do you feel about this approach?

And just a bit about you...