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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 826 asked in the Legislative Council on 8 November 2017 by Hon Diane Evers

Parliament: 40 Session: 1


GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS–CITIZEN LEADERSHIP AND COORDINATION
      826. Hon DIANE EVERS to the Leader of the House representing the Premier:
I refer to an answer given by Mr Darren Foster, director general of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, during the hearings of the Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Operations on Tuesday, 17 October 2017, to my question about leadership and coordination of cross-agency solutions to complex issues:
      (1) Will the state government consider using innovative processes to enable citizens to actively collaborate with government to find solutions to complex issues beyond existing modes of citizen and stakeholder consultation?
      (2) If yes to (1), will the government consider using approaches such as deliberative democracy?
(3) If yes to (2), how might citizen involvement be triggered?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) Yes.
      (3) Citizen involvement may be triggered via a variety of options, including community cabinets. A new community cabinet format that is deliberately open, modern and focused on encouraging greater community engagement, has been implemented since the election. The format provides an opportunity for local residents, community groups and businesses to have direct dialogue with ministers on issues that affect them in their local area. Two community cabinets have been held since the election—one in the metropolitan area and one in a regional area. The government has committed to follow up issues raised at the community cabinets directly with the people involved. Further community cabinets are planned for next year.
      A number of options are being considered with regard to consulting with the community on specific issues, including forums, town hall–style meetings, workshops, site inspections with stakeholders, and briefings to key groups, including nongovernment groups. This is in addition to traditional methods of stakeholder consultation, including providing information in alternative formats to meet accessibility requirements.