Welcome!

Our Community Engagement team helps make it easier for Clarence residents to have their say. We work with teams to deliver inclusive, well-planned engagement for projects big and small, guided by the Stakeholder and Community Engagement Framework 2025–28.

  • Why we engage

    • Our community has the right to participate in decisions that affect them.
    • Engagement improves the quality, transparency, and fairness of Council decisions.
    • It builds trust, connection, and pride in our city.
    • It builds greater awareness and understanding of Council issues and challenges.
    • Risks are reduced through early collaboration.
    • It provides ongoing feedback and evaluation to track outcomes.

  • Who we engage

    Anyone affected by, or interested in, a Council decision — including residents, businesses, community groups, state and federal governments, media, elected members, City of Clarence staff and media.

  • When we engage

    • When we are developing or updating long-term strategic plans, policies and major projects with significant community interest.
    • When there is a genuine opportunity for the community to influence the outcome of a decision.
    • When there is a legislative or regulatory requirement to consult with the community.
    • When there is a growing community concern on an issue that concerns City of Clarence.
    • During any emergency situations, natural disasters or other crisis events.

  • What we do

    • Tailored engagement: Fit-for-purpose strategies, from quick checks to in-depth engagements.
    • Two-way conversations: Safe, respectful spaces where stakeholders feel heard.
    • Equity and inclusion: Reducing barriers so all community voices can contribute.
    • Clear feedback: Analysing and reporting input to support evidence-based decisions.
    • Digital tools: Managing Your Say Clarence for easy public feedback and staff reporting.

Engagement Principles

  1. Inclusive and respectful: We value the diversity of our community, involve less-heard voices, and set clear participation guidelines so everyone feels welcome and heard.
  2. Transparent, accountable and honest: We are clear about the purpose of each engagement, what can and cannot be influenced, and how input will be used. We keep the community informed about Council business and explain decisions, constraints and next steps.
  3. Fit-for-Purpose: We tailor methods, channels and materials to the context, audience, risk and level of impact, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
  4. Accessible and equitable: We reduce barriers to participation and make information easy to find, read and understand across channels, with formats that meet the needs of our diverse community, including those people with disabilities, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, youth, and seniors.
  5. Timely, accurate and proactive: We engage early and, where relevant, throughout the project lifecycle so people have time to understand options and contribute meaningfully. We ensure information is current, relevant and factual.
  6. Genuine and meaningful: We communicate with respect, seek feedback where it’s impactful, and show how contributions influence outcomes.
  7. Responsive and flexible: We monitor questions and sentiment and adapt messages, channels or timing to meet community needs and expectations.
  8. Financially responsible and sustainable: We plan and resource engagement to maximise value, minimise duplication, and align with Council’s sustainability objectives.

Engagement Process

Project Team (PT) reaches out to inform Engagement Officer (EO) a project requires community engagement. This can be done via email or a meeting. Project Team should provide details of their project at this stage and some background.

Project Team notifies Engagement Officer they are ready to begin planning their community engagement and indicates any known deadlines. Engagement Officer sends Engagement Checklist for Project Team to complete. Team completes and returns to Engagement Officer, who determines level of assistance and sends Engagement and Communication Plan (ECP).

Engagement Officer and Project Team meet to review the Engagement and Communications Plan. Where needed, Engagement Officer guides Project Team through the template. Together, Project Team and Engagement Officer fine tune Engagement and Communications Plan. If necessary, additional meetings will be held to complete it.

Engagement Officer finalises Engagement and Communications Plan with Project Team. Engagement Officer collaborates with Comms team to confirm requested marketing actions. Before being released to Councillors, Engagement and Communications Plan is signed off by Manager of Communications, Marketing, and Engagement.

Project Team submits Engagement and Communications Plan to Councillors for approval. This could via a Weekly Briefing Report, Council Workshop papers, or Meeting Agenda, depending on the recommended level of Council Engagement. While Engagement and Communications Plan is awaiting approval, Engagement Officer begins building Your Say page and organises communications actions.

Councillor's feedback is communicated to the Engagement Officer by Project Team and incorporated into Engagement and Communications Plan. If further Councillor approval is required, engagement will be paused until changes are made. If approved by Council, Engagement Officer and Comms will finalise engagement and marketing material and launch engagement.

Engagement Officer follows Engagement and Communications Plan timeline to ensure tasks are completed and prepared and ongoing communication with Comms and Project Team. When engagement closes, Engagement Officer submits Interm Key Outcomes from the Engagement Reports to Project Team for Councillors and begins compiling Engagement Report in collaboration with Project Team and Comms.

Engagement Officer completes Engagement Report and Manager approves before sending it to Project Team. Project Team then reports back to Councillors before the Report is published on the Your Say page.

BEGIN PLANNING YOUR ENGAGEMENT NOW open in new window