Building Better Government Engagement

At the 2007 Community – Government Forum, participants called for the public service to improve consultation processes and create a more respectful and collaborative culture of engagement. In response, we are undertaking work to improve government understanding of:

• good practice in building relationships
• methods of dialogue and deliberation
• the value of collaborative approaches to decision-making.

Through this work we will  develop a programme that is likely to include seminars, web resources, training courses, induction and recruitment resources, secondments and exchanges, and other initiatives to build participatory democracy.

On 31 August 2009, Cabinet considered the paper Government Commitment to Building Strong Community Relationships. This paper proposed a programme of actions to strengthen government engagement with citizens and communities. The programme of action is in response to the Good Intentions report by the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations of Aotearoa (ANGOA) and the From Talk to Action report by the Building Better Government Engagement reference group. The paper notes that a relationship agreement could include a joint vision for working together, respective roles and responsibilities, and commitments from both sides.

Cabinet:

• agreed that the national Community-Government Forum in November 2009 will discuss development of a Relationship Agreement to replace the 2001 Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship
• agreed that the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, assisted by the State Services Commission and Te Puni Kokiri, and in consultation with the Treasury and Office of the Auditor-General, will assess how community relationships can be included in wider work around improving and measuring government performance by 30 November 2010
• agreed that the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Cabinet Office work to clarify guidance in the CabGuide regarding consultation with community and voluntary organisations on policy proposals

A number of other actions were noted (see the Cabinet paper and Minute - released 7 Sept 2009 ).

It’s More Than Talk was the discussion document from the Building Better Government Engagement (BBGE) project reference group.  It suggested options for building engagement skills, knowledge and values in the public service, and invited input on the engagement issues outlined in Section 2, the way ahead suggested in Section 4 and on the possible actions listed in Section 5. Consultation on It's More Than Talk ended on 31 March 2009. 

Online discussion about It's More Than Talk at www.bangthetable.com/BBGE captured different opinions and perspectives, as people passionate about community engagement shared their thoughts and ideas for others to respond to. Surveys helped identify top priorities for action across government. Notes from several face-to-face workshops in Auckland, Waitakere, Hamilton, Christchurch and Wellington are in the Library section at www.bangthetable.com/document/index/93.

Feedback was collated by the OCVS and reviewed by the BBGE reference group. Analysis of the formal submissions and discussion board contributions about  how to improve government-community engagement processes and practices was completed in July 2009.

After deliberating on the submissions, the BBGE group produced two further documents and released these publicly on 31 July 2009:

• Talkback - a summary of feedback and responses from the BBGE group
• From Talk to Action: Government Engagement with Citizens and Communities  - the final report and recommendations to government.

As part of the process to produce It's More Than Talk, a number of New Zealand case studies on community participation and engagement have been compiled and these are now available on the Good Practice Participate online resource to provide insight into what works, and guide public service processes.

Case studies of organisational responses to embed good practice engagement

• NZAID has a commitment to close collaboration with international development non-government organisations (NGOs), which is reflected in its strategic framework and formalised arrangements for engagement.
  » NZ Agency for International Development (NZAID) - strategic policy framework
• The Department of Conservation commits to community engagement in its key strategic and business planning document, and has developed comprehensive training on community engagement, as part of broader guidelines for working with the community.
  » Department of Conservation - From Seed to Success
• The Ministry of Economic Development includes "strengthening relationships" as one of its key goals in its Organisational Development Strategy 2007-2012, and has various initiatives to raise staff awareness and skills.
  » Ministry of Economic Development
• The Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, Australia, has led government work to promote good practice in engagement in that State.
  » The Engagement and Partnership Team, Department Of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, Australia

Case studies of effective engagement processes

Inform

• Information seminars for marae governors – seminars provided by a central-local government team to inform marae trustees and governors about the legal and compliance obligations affecting marae.
  » Information seminars for marae governors

Consult

• Parents Panel Discussion Group Project – discussion groups set up by the Families Commission to gain an understanding of the perspectives of people raising children in diverse situations.
  » Parents Panel Discussion Group Project
• The Couch – an online feedback panel informing the Families Commission's advocacy work on behalf of families, and contributing to policy and research initiatives.
  » The Couch
• Tax incentives for giving and volunteering reference group – a community reference group to guide Inland Revenue policy proposals, and the design and roll-out of a consultation strategy.
  » Tax incentives for giving and volunteering reference group

Partner

• Pre-Birth testing engagement strategy – a deliberative engagement strategy by the Bioethics Council to increase the public's general awareness of issues related to pre-birth testing while also gaining public input into Government policy.
  » Bioethics Council Who gets born? case study
• The Workplace Wellbeing project – a collaboration by two social service umbrella organisations, a union, a philanthropic trust, and the Department of Labour to run workshops in order to gain input into sector specific resources, and to develop discussion about employment issues in the sector.
  » Workplace Wellbeing project
• SKIP and The Warehouse Dads project – the Ministry of Social Development and the Warehouse working together to promote positive parenting messages.
  » SKIP and The Warehouse Dads project

Empower

• Ora'anga Kopapa Matutu – a Cook Island Maori community-led development health initiative in Tamaki, Auckland.
  » Ora'anga Kopapa Matutu case study

Additional material

Additional material referred to in the It's More Than Talk report, is included here.

As part of the BBGE project, a stocktake of current resources and activities that support or illustrate effective engagement practices in New Zealand has been compiled.

Activities are categorised as follows:

• staff development
• awards
• resources
• legislative requirements
• planning and accountability
• policy and research
• activities across the ‘inform-consult-partner-empower’ spectrum
• protocols and agreements.

The summary is a living document and OCVS is interested in hearing of other significant resources and activities that could be included.

In work complementary to the BBGE project, the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations of Aotearoa (ANGOA) was funded to assess government responsiveness to the Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship (the SOGI). The ANGOA research team's report is due for release in January 2009.

Both documents will provide a focus for ongoing work to improve participation processes and community-government relationships.

Established by the OCVS in March 2008, the group's role is to report to the OCVS on priorities for government action to strengthen engagement with citizens and community organisations, taking into account issues identified through previous community-government dialogue processes and current government initiatives related to this area.

Members were drawn from government and non-government backgrounds, selected on the basis of their personal skills and knowledge in terms of relationship building, communications, dialogue and deliberation, government and political systems, civil society, and human resources and training.

The members are:

• Anne Shaw - Department of Internal Affairs
• Charlie Moore  - Families Commission
• Hata Wilson - Te Puni Kokiri
• Laura Sommer (from Oct 2008) - State Services Commission
• Mary-Jane Rivers - Community-Led Development Trust
• Nikki Wright (to July 2008) - Department of Conservation
• Roger Tweedy - Wellington City Council
• Rosemary Hannah-Parr (until Sept 2008) - State Services Commission
• Sue Driver - ChangeMakers Refugee Forum
• Tina Reid - NZ Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations
• Tony Mayow -  Community Waitakere

The project manager is Diana Suggate (OCVS), supported by Hannah O'Donnell and Kathryn King (Department of Internal Affairs), and Kathryn Paton and Judith le Harivel (OCVS).