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Building engagement capacity

Developing the capability of public officials

To ensure effective engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, public officials may require support to develop their capacity to facilitate relationships with communities.

Appropriate training may be required to develop skills and knowledge related to:

  • listening to and understanding the opinions and perspectives of a diversity of stakeholders
  • negotiation and partnership contracting
  • interpersonal communication
  • relationship-building
  • facilitation
  • principles of cross-cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication
  • equity and diversity principles
  • public sector values and codes of conduct.

In addition to accessing the variety of community engagement and cultural awareness training available across Queensland Government (refer to the Training and Development Calendar at www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au for more information), public officials should seek to build their capacity to engage by identifying and conferring with others who have significant experience and expertise in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Assisting communities to build capacity

It is important to find out the desires and aspirations of community members in relation
to capacity building.

Before engaging with any community, government officials have a responsibility to understand the community’s capacity for engagement in terms of skills, knowledge, resources and infrastructure. It is a common assumption that communities have the ability to respond to engagement in a specific way when, in fact, the community may lack the time, interest, confidence, skills or other resources to engage. If the community is interested in a particular engagement topic, taking time to build the level of capacity within a community through the provision of information or other resources can significantly increase the success of an engagement initiative.

Improved community engagement highlights the need for ongoing support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders. Engagement activities with communities should incorporate capacity development for community participants. Effective engagement can bring new levels of experience and expertise for community participants involved in the engagement process in a dynamic, cost-effective and integrated way.

Case study: Groundbreaking resource unit

Innovative thinking is behind the development of the first resource unit in an independent public library in Queensland: Cool-In-Lib at the Cooloola Shire Library located at Gympie, 180 km north of Brisbane. The Cool-In-Lib project started in 2000 with a State Library of Queensland Innovations Grant. This project involved researching, implementing and documenting new strategies for marketing and improving library services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the Cooloola Shire. The project coordinators worked closely with the Traditional Owners and local people to make the project a success. The library staff received training from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff about a range of cultural issues. The library also employed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff who helped to put the local community at ease and provided assistance with family history questions. The unit purchased about 200 books, magazines, papers, videos and CDs, and have built a collection of valuable resources including photos, documents, reference materials, family histories and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fiction.

For more details contact the State Library of Queensland – telephone (07) 3840 7666.

Last reviewed
01 June 2011
Last updated
23 June 2011