A review of communitybuilders.nsw – Report, June 2004

This review commissioned by Director General of the NSW Premier’s Department, was mandated to assess performance of communitybuilders.nsw across five linked areas: objectives and results; strategic directions; auspice and governance; website content, design and performance; and capacity and budget.

Tim Farland, Senior Project Manger, Strategic Projects Division, NSW Premier’s Department undertook the Review.

Overview

The web site communitybuilders is managed by the communitybuilders Unit (CBU), which is currently part of the Service Delivery Improvement Directorate of the NSW Premier’s Department. It transfers to the new Communities Division of the Department of Community Service on 1 July 2004. The CBU consist of three interlinked sets of functions and related staff positions: unit and site management, information management and website administration.

Corporate Policy and Strategic Directions

communitybuilders’ mandate as a government endorsed "on-line community service" rests on a foundation of eight years of NSW Government community renewal policy.

Since 1995 the NSW Government has articulated a commitment to "community building"; characterised by a focus on addressing social, economic and environmental issues in partnership with communities.

communitybuilders’ vision statement encapsulated the site’s raison d’etre:

“communitybuilders is a practical resource and communication channel for people who are working to strengthen the capacity of their communities”.

communitybuilders invites government agencies, the NFP sector, communities and citizens to an "on-line table at which useful information is shared and discussed.

Review Method

The Review used six cross-referenced instruments: Interviews; survey; SWOT; focus groups; document and file analysis; and literature search. The survey was sent to the 3,995 people on the communitybuilders email list. 35 interviews were held with central and line agency stakeholders and Not For Profit (NFP) organisations..

Survey Findings

The 433 survey responses showed high levels of agreement that communitybuilders:

1. offers useful and practical resources for community development (98.4%)
2. is an effective communication channel for people involved with community issues (97%)
3. is well designed for ease of use (95%)
4. has assisted them with their work. (91.8%)

Respondents were asked to list the strengths and areas needing development. 1860 items were listed: 1342 strengths and 518 areas needing development. The responses were collated, coded, counted and ranked. The top 5 items in each category are listed below:

Report contents

• In Their Own Words
• Executive summary
• Recommendations
• Mandate and Scope
• Overview
• Method
• Context: Policy Audit
• Context: Timeline
• Building Community: soundings from the literature
• Findings: Survey
• SWOT
• Strengths
• Areas needing development
• Information and content
• Site design
• Discussion forum
• Promotion
• Site metrics
• Governance and auspice
• Capacity and budget

For further information

Contact	:	Tim Farland, NSW Premier’s Department
Phone	:	02 9228 4108
Email	:	tim.farland@premiers.nsw.gov.au