Community Engagement

The Far North Queensland Citizen\'s Jury (FNQCJ) attempted to replicate the ideals of deliberative democracy in considering future management options for the Bloomfield Track, a controversial road between Cape Tribulation Qld and the Bloomfield River Qld. The FNQCJ consisted of 12 randomly selected citizens from the region who visited t ....

The ecological sustainability of future landscapes depends on a range of institutions, including civic engagement in local resource and land use issues. However, for citizens to participate in regional resource management in ways that are meaningful to them, it is important that both the landscape units being discussed and the juri ....

Two approaches to learning about the structure and function of Australia's small towns are discussed in this paper: the community studies approach, which has a deep understanding of the forces operating within local communities but lacks a strong policy perspective; and the sustainability based approach, which focuses on economic, ....

It is widely noted that rural populations have poor health status and are ageing. In Australia, state and national policies and programs have been instigated to redress this, but few rural residents would agree that their town is the same as an apparently similar sized one nearby or across the country. This article reports a projec ....

Three primary healthcare nurses were funded by the Commonwealth Government to establish a primary healthcare program for three clusters of small rural communities (four towns in each cluster) of less than 1000 people. The role of the nurses was to include the provision of clinical nursing support to GPs in outreach locations simila ....

Although the multiple economic, environmental and social challenges threatening the viability of rural and regional communities in Australia are well-known, little research has explored how community leaders conceptualise the impact and opportunities associated with economic diversification from agriculture into alternative industries, such as to ....

This paper therefore focusses on research and findings from cases that have primarily occurred in developed countries such as the USA, New Zealand and the UK. Despite cultural differences between these countries, there is sufficient similarity in economic, social and institutional structures and conditions to enable the extrapolation an ....

The Council of Australian Government (COAG) Trials, announced in 2002, aimed to explore new ways for governments to work together and with communities to address the needs of Indigenous Australians. Eight trials were conducted in sites across Australia - the Western Australian trial was conducted in the East  Kimberley region, an a ....

The purpose of this document was accordingly to lay the foundations for identifying in the present project an approach to economic accountability that is: (a) consistent with stated reasons for adopting a community-based strategy for environmental management; (b) cost-effective to apply given the capacities of community-based organ ....

The Healthy for Life program provides funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to address health and wellbeing issues in an interconnected and holistic way, in an integrated primary health care model that uses the best evidence and the ability to adapt initiatives to fit the local context. The aim of the Health ....

This report investigates the role that vocational education and training (VET) could play in Indigenous capacity building and community governance. Drawing on the research literature, focus groups, and case studies, it examines how Indigenous people conceptualise governance, the skills needed for participation in community and orga ....

This project on health related telecommunications (telehealth) in Western Australia aimed to address the lack of a suitable, economically costed communications infrastructure to support telehealth in rural and remote areas. The project used participatory action research techniques and involved extensive community consultation. This ....

Many mainstream non-government organisations committed to enhancing the wellbeing of Australians want to more positively engage with Indigenous Australians. But 'good intentions' do not guarantee that, at the very least, no damage is done through such engagement. This paper explores some of the principles and practices which underp ....

Within developing countries, it has been identified that one means of achieving sustainable tourism is through the effective engagement of local communities. In particular, this involves the encouragement of indigenous entrepreneurship, often in the forms of self-employment and small-scale enterprises. The aim is to maximize potential e ....