From the Frontline – Local Government, Devolution and Local Power

By Alex Gooding

In August 2018 LogoNet commenced the From the Frontline initiative, seeking the responses of people working at the “frontline” in local government to a series of questions exploring the relationships between councils and their communities.

From the Frontline evolved from the ongoing LogoNet Dialogue, a national conversation around the most critical issues affecting local communities and Local government. The initiative sought to address the Dialogue’s aim of stimulating fresh thinking on effective place-based governance and local democracy and also drew on the 2017 Future of Local Government Declaration. This sees local government as having an important role in reinvigorating faith in democracy and citizenship, and facilitating new forms of community-centred, bottom-up governance.

From the Frontline also recognised that many in the local government sector would like to participate in these discussions but simply don’t have the time to attend forums or write articles. From the Frontline provided an alternative way for people to be involved, by allowing them to contribute short responses to key questions on how councils could develop their relationships with local communities. The intention was to collate these responses into a set of papers to reflect current views in the sector; these would provide a basis to inform decision-makers and help set directions for the ongoing LogoNet process.

The three questions in the 2018 From the Frontline series were distributed to LogoNet members and supporters by email in the period from August to November 2018. The questions were also circulated in the LogoNet News, placed on the LogoNet website, and publicised in social media. The responses to each question were synthesised into separate but related papers. The intervals between the questions allowed the responses from the first question to help shape the second question, which in turn influenced the third.

The three questions and the responses to them are summarised below:

Question 1: How can local governments improve trust and openness in their relationships with the community?

The first question received the highest number of responses. These highlighted the key markers of good relationships, including factors such as transparency, open communication, engagement and real community empowerment, as well as the bad. The latter included tokenistic consultation, the gap between some councillors and their constituents and the poor perception in some communities of local government.

A wide range of proposals for action were provided in direct response to the question. These included improving communication and information flows, strengthening transparency and accountability, building strong two-way partnerships between councils and communities – including the devolution of power to communities, and improving the delivery of services. As the paper concluded, “many of the solutions to the question of how to improve trust and openness in the relationship between local government and the community lie in councils demonstrating all the basic elements of good governance”.

Question 2:

• To what extent should councils share decision-making with their communities?

• What methods should they use?

• Can you describe any examples of this being done successfully?

Question 2 was designed to address some of the themes that emerged in the responses to the first question, seeking feedback on how far shared decision-making should be taken and the methods that should be used. The responses showed widespread support for councils taking a proactive approach, though some limitations were also nominated. These included recognising the most appropriate decisions to share, the importance of adapting processes to suit specific communities, councils and issues, and also taking steps to ensure the involvement of minority, disadvantaged and disengaged groups.

Several approaches to implementing shared decision-making were suggested. A number related to how the process should be managed, proposing for example an evolutionary approach to the development of shared decision-making protocols, a critical component of which is information provision. The appointment of committees, boards and panels, the use of surveys, the creation of forums, focus groups and juries and “traditional” face-to-face meetings were all suggested as specific approaches.

As the paper summarising the outcomes of question 2 noted, the responses suggested growing support for the devolution of decision-making to the community. The paper concluded: “we may be moving towards a democratic partnership in which we want elected officials to bring a commitment to sharing power in the interests of what we now see as a more legitimate and socially beneficial decision-making arrangement”.

Question 3:

• Is it time for local government to lead democratic change and commit to devolving and authentically sharing decision-making power with the community?

• If so, can Australian councils adopt the sorts of formal, whole-of-council approaches being used elsewhere and if not, why not?

Question 3 explored further the opportunities for councils to devolve power to the community identified in the responses to question 2. The responses to the final 2018 From the Frontline question generally agreed that it is time for local government to lead the process of sharing power and devolving decision-making, though they also nominated some issues which will need to be addressed if councils are to take a leadership role.

Some identified the practical benefits of devolved decision-making, but the majority proposed more philosophical reasons, for example, the pressing need to address the community’s increasing distrust of political leaders and governance systems. Another factor is the rate of technological, social and economic change, which is making traditional concentrations of authority and models of decision-making irrelevant and inappropriate, and at the same time providing new opportunities for the community to participate directly in decision-making.

There was recognition that the capacity of both councils and communities to participate in devolved decision-making processes also needs to be improved. Small councils, isolated and disadvantaged communities need to be supported and the underlying inequalities addressed if the devolution process is to be completely authentic.

While there was limited discussion of the concept of councils adopting devolved decision-making on a formal, organisation-wide basis, there was general support for councils drawing on processes which have already been adopted successfully elsewhere. While several practical measures were proposed a number of potential obstacles were also identified, including the erosion of council autonomy by state governments which has reduced the scope for decision-making at the local level. However, as the paper discussing question 3 concluded:

Despite these challenges …the enthusiasm for the principle that councils should authentically share power with their local communities has been evident throughout the responses to all three questions. It’s time, it seems, for genuine devolved decision-making.

This quote also provides an appropriate conclusion to the first successful From the Frontline series. The enthusiasm for power sharing will also inform LogoNet’s activities and direction throughout 2019, as we continue to explore and promote the role of councils and the local government sector generally in developing and implementing devolved decision-making.

LogoNet would like to thank Alison Dalziel for her work in initiating the From the Frontline concept and the LogoNet Conveners who were involved in its development. In particular, we would like to thank all the people from across the local government sector – and across all state and territory jurisdictions – who responded to the 2018 From the Frontline questions.

From the Frontline Question 3: Committing to Devolved and Authentic Decision-Making

By Alex Gooding

Introduction

As part of its national Dialogue in 2018 LogoNet introduced From the Frontline, a series of questions to explore particular aspects of the broad theme of Place Based Governance and Local Democracy.

Those who are at the “frontline” of working in the local government sector were asked to contribute their thoughts in the form of short responses to these questions. Question 1 looked at trust and openness and received a strong response. Question 2 in the series picked up the theme of a stronger community-led approach and explored shared decision-making.

Question 3, the final in the series for 2018, examined in more detail the potential role of local government in taking a leading role in sharing decision-making power with the community. The question was in two parts:

• Is it time for local government to lead democratic change and commit to devolving and authentically sharing decision-making power with the community?

• If so, can Australian councils adopt the sorts of formal, whole-of-council approaches being used elsewhere and if not, why not?

 

As with Questions 2 and 3, this report has been produced by mind mapping and synthesising the contributions received, and consequently highlights key themes in these responses rather than trying to summarise every point that was raised.

Devolved and authentic decision-making – should councils take a leading role?

The responses indicated general agreement with the view that it is time for local government to share power and devolve decision-making to the community. They offered a variety of arguments in support of this proposition, but also nominated some issues which will need to be addressed if councils are to take a leadership role.

From the Frontline Question 2: sharing decision-making with the community

By Alex Gooding and Tim Robinson

Introduction

As part of its national Dialogue LogoNet recently introduced From the Frontline, a series of questions to explore particular aspects of the broad theme of Place Based Governance and Local Democracy.

Those who are at the “frontline” of working in the sector are being asked to contribute their thoughts in the form of short responses to the questions. Question 1 looked at trust and openness and received a strong response. Question 2 in the series picked up the theme of a stronger community-led approach and looked specifically at shared decision-making. It was in three parts:

1. To what extent should councils share decision-making with their communities?
2. What methods should they use?
3. Can you describe any examples of this being done successfully?

This report has been produced by mind mapping and synthesising the contributions received. As with the report on Question 1, this summary of the responses to Question 2 doesn’t include every point raised but highlights some of the key themes.

From the Frontline – Question 1: How can local governments improve trust and openness in their relationships with the community?

By Alex Gooding and Alison Dalziel

Introduction

The Future of Local Government Declaration sees local government as reinvigorating faith in democracy and citizenship, and facilitating new forms of community-centred, bottom-up governance that inspire confidence and active participation. Many of the discussions initiated by LogoNet around Australia have highlighted trust and openness between local governments and their communities as key ingredients.

LogoNet has initiated a national conversation around the most critical issues affecting local communities and local government, which aims to stimulate fresh thinking on effective place-based governance and local democracy. As part of this Dialogue, LogoNet has invited those who are at the “frontline” – working in and with local governments and communities –to contribute their thoughts on a series of questions.

The first question in the From the Frontline series was “how can local governments improve trust and openness in their relationships with the community?” This short paper has been produced by mind mapping and synthesising the contributions received (see a breakdown of contributors in the appendix). The summary that follows doesn’t include every point raised but highlights the key themes.

New LogoNet initiative – the “From the Frontline” series

Welcome to LogoNet’s latest initiative – the “From the Frontline” Series

The LogoNet Dialogue – a national conversation around the most critical issues affecting local communities and local government, which aims to stimulate fresh thinking on effective place-based governance and local democracy – has been running for some months now. For the Dialogue to be relevant, it is essential that we include the voices of those of us who are at the “frontline” – working in and with local governments and communities – who have a real understanding of the challenges and opportunities. 

But many of us cannot find the time and thinking space to sit down and write a whole paper on the way forward for local governance and democracy – so LogoNet is going to crowd-source some papers! Every month or so over the next few months, we will send out a key question relating to this topic. We will edit the responses into short articles, effectively co-written by the contributors, which we will publish on the LogoNet Dialogue website. We will list the contributors but not identify who said what. You can choose what topics to respond to and write as little or as much as you like on each one you choose. We will exercise editorial licence in producing some great think pieces that we will share back with the sector.

Of course, you can author a separate paper for the website too – that would be very welcome. But this is a quick and easy way to send your thoughts and contribute to the dialogue.

Later this year, the LogoNet organisers are going to synthesise all the contributions and produce a progress report that will identify the key themes that have emerged, establish a program of advocacy to influence decision-makers, and set the compass for the next stage of the Dialogue.  

Local government in Australia, as elsewhere, is at a turning point. This is a great opportunity to pause for a moment from our work “in the business” and reflect “on the business” – and help to shape the future of community governance and local democracy. The high level of interest in these issues has been demonstrated by the quality of responses to the initial questions in the From the Frontline series. A summary of replies to Question 1 on how can local governments improve trust and openness in their relationships with the community can be viewed here while a summary of responses to Question 2, which looked at the sharing of council decision-making with local communities is available here. 

These responses have shaped Question 3, the final one for 2018, which looks the potential for local government to lead democratic change and commit to devolving and authentically sharing decision-making power with the community. We welcome your views and ask you to respond via the form which can be found here.