Community Consultation and Engagement Course

Learn how to better inform government and organisational decision-making to achieve the best internal and external result

If your work impacts the community, it helps to first understand their views on the issue. During this community engagement course you will learn how to project manage and tailor effective quality consultation principles and practices using an outcome-based approach, to meet the requirements of your project and agency.

You will learn how to systematically scope and design a fit-for-purpose consultation process and investigate different engagement options, including engaging with hard-to-reach groups. Additionally, you will explore how to present impactful engagement findings to influence and guide decision-makers.

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Course content

This community engagement course explores the essential principles, tools and techniques needed to plan and deliver meaningful community consultation and engagement. The course content has been designed to help you gain practical, evidence-based strategies to design inclusive processes, manage diverse stakeholders and achieve more effective engagement outcomes. In this course you will cover the following content:

Introduction to stakeholder engagement

• What is stakeholder engagement
• Engagement spectrum: purposes and types of engagement
• What makes for quality engagement
• How to support quality engagement within organisations
• Common engagement terms and methodologies in use in Australia
• Participation barriers, research risks, limitations and qualifications
• Where and when to start

Engagement planning and design

• Use of a staged, project management approach to engagement, covering:
  • Scoping/ Identifying
  • Designing
  • Undertaking
  • Distilling
  • Reporting
  • Communications and Feedback
• How to select fit-for-purpose engagement methods
• Bringing your plan into action

Engagement methods and tools

• Clarity of purpose and method alignment (IAP2)
• About human research ethics and use of discussion guides
• Common engagement methods, including key considerations and tips related to hosting:
  • Stakeholder meetings
  • Focus groups and interviews
  • Online surveys
  • Other digital and emerging options
  • Importance of informal techniques.
• Essentials of respectful feedback and active listening
• 101 of managing difficult people and challenging interactions

Learning outcomes

On completion of this community engagement course participants will have increased knowledge, understanding and skills in the following:

• Ability to effectively plan community consultation and engagement within a project management framework
• Awareness of the key steps involved in planning and implementing relevant outcomes-based community engagement and stakeholder consultations
• Identify how to use the right engagement tool at the right time for the right audience
• Confidence to write and pitch for impact when using engagement outcomes in advice to decision makers, including elected officials.

Intended audeince

This course is designed for professionals who work with communities and need to plan, deliver or strengthen engagement processes. It is ideal for those in government, non-for-profits, community services and project roles who want to build practical skills in consultation, stakeholder engagement and participatory decision-making. Whether you are new to engagement or seeking to refine your approach, this course equips you with the tools to create more inclusive, targeted and effective interactions with the communities you serve.

Delivery style

This community consultation course will be delivered as an interactive workshop consisting of an instructor-led lecture, group and individual activities. This training approach allows participants to work through concepts introduced by the trainer in an application-focused teaching environment. Participants will challenge their understanding of the concepts and consider their application once back in their individual workplace. Find out more.

Course prerequisites

This community engagement course has no prerequisites and is open to all members of the public.

About the presenter

Edwina Deakin is currently an Associate Director, Research and Advisory at the UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance. She is the Project Manager and a lead author of the new IPPG Community Engagement for Impact Guide.

Edwina has been involved in commissioning, designing and delivering community engagement activities for over 25 years - as a NSW government policy director, social policy consultant and community engagement trainer. Edwina has worked with a wide range of organisations - undertaking over 30 major consultation projects: including various state-wide and local government area engagement activities. Edwina holds BA Honours degree, a Masters in Communications, Graduate Diploma in Education, and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.