Social Inclusion of the Hard to Reach: resource for local councils

By Nicola Brackertz and Denise Meredyth

This report is intended as a practical resource for local councils wishing to engage their communities in decision making and planning. The focus is on how to broaden the range of people represented in council processes, especially those who are reluctant to participate in traditional consultation methods. Councils sometimes think of these groups as being hard to reach. We hope that this report will go some way towards redressing this perception.

The report draws on the Community consultation and the hard to reach: local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure project (Hard to Reach Project) and aims to present its findings in an accessible and practically applicable format that will help councils to extend their consultation processes to become more inclusive. Throughout the report, examples illustrate instances of good practice, as well as traps to look out for. Examples are drawn from the findings and observations made during the case studies that were conducted for the Hard to Reach Project. The examples illustrate key findings from the research in a simplified way. Where the reader is interested in gaining greater understanding of the complexity of the cases, it is recommended that s/he pursue the individual case study reports that were prepared for the project (Appendix 1).

This project is a collaborative research venture supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC), being undertaken by the ISR in partnership with eight local councils and the Victorian Local Governance Association. Partner councils to the project are the Cities of Boroondara, Darebin, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Moreland, Millumbik, Port Phillip and Whittlesea.

For more information on the project and report visit the project website..