Community Participation Principles

REDWatch Community Participation Principles

The Legislative Council Social Issues Inquiry into Redfern Waterloo in late 2004 was very critical of the community engagement strategy used by the Government in their work in Redfern Waterloo and it recommended that the NSW Government “develops and implements a comprehensive strategy to ensure there is effective consultation and communication with the Redfern Waterloo communities”. The Committee also recommended that the Government take all possible steps to achieve genuine partnership including with the local community.

So far “community consultation” on the future of Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo has seen a lot of frustration generated and not much real community-owned planning. This needs to change!

To achieve this, REDWatch asks RWA to adopt the following principles:

Respect us!

• Take us seriously
• Give us opportunities to be involved in making decisions
• Show a spirit of genuine goodwill
• Value the existing, diverse indigenous and immigrant community and heritage including the local and national status of ‘The Block’ and extensive public housing communities
• Don’t play us off against each other
• Respect community knowledge about problems AND solutions eg Pemulwuy – remember we have the most to win and lose
• Listen as well as talk
• Work with us to actually achieve specific things 

Trust us!

• Resource and provide funding for real participation opportunities

• Build on existing information provided from the community
• Work with networks we know and have – involve everyone
• Let our community leaders take lead roles in meetings
• Make meeting outcomes publicly available
• Be open with us and tell us what’s happening  - no secrets
• Make meetings friendly for us to go to
• Tea, coffee and chocolate biscuits at all meetings – RWA Board Quality!
  

Communicate with us!

• Talk in language we understand use plain English and translate information into community languages
• Use community notice boards
• Keep a webpage that is regularly updated and easy to use
• Keep us notified of opportunities to participate, with enough time for us to turn up
• Send us agendas and pre-meeting info in advance so that we can give a considered response to the issues being discussed 

Respond to us!

• Regularly provide us with information on how RWA is performing and meeting project timelines
• Reply to inquiries from individuals and groups in a timely manner with real answers
• Appreciate the importance of the RWA Annual Report

Don’t confuse us!

• Make sure everyone in RWA and Council know their role - and then explain it to us - we do not like the blame game.
• Talk to each other then tell us what’s happening – avoid left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing
• Give us a timeline for creating a community-owned plan and explain the steps we need to take to get there