STRATEGY
Communications Strategy
Version No:
Trim File No:
Approval Date:
Approved By:
Department:
Responsible Officer:
Next Review Date:
Advent Obligation No:
Circulation
1
14/3117
25 March 2014
Council
Media and Communications
Roberta Baker, Manager Communications
November 2016
2328
All staff and Councillors
INTRODUCTION
Indigo Shire Council’s Communications Policy states: Indigo Shire Council is committed to timely,
considered, open and honest communication.
The policy statement says Council will:
 demonstrate a transparent willingness to work in partnership with people and organisations
 encourage local knowledge and input
 build community ownership in Council projects
 involve the community in our plans for improvement and share successes
 continue professional development in community engagement and communication
processes.
Effective, meaningful communication and engagement is part of good governance and good
business practice. It is a priority for Indigo Shire Council and is based on five premises:
1. We know why we are engaging and communicate this clearly
2. We know who to engage
3. We know the background of issues
4. We begin early
5. We are genuine, creative, courteous and relevant.
COUNCIL PLAN
The Council Plan 2013-2017 sets out our objectives, and actions to achieve those objectives,
over the Council term. The annual State-wide benchmarking survey captures feedback from
residents in five key areas:
1. Overall performance
2. Community consultation
3. Advocacy
4. Customer contact
5. Overall Council Direction.
Our annual Council community satisfaction survey is broader and deeper and provides
much valuable data to help Council plan what it does for the community within the context
of the Council Plan.
Communications Strategy
Page 1 of 4
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
SCOPE
This strategy applies to External: The broader community comprising ratepayers and residents, visitors/tourists,
Government and non-Government agencies and service providers, external providers/partners
(contractors), business owners, community organisations, media, MPs and their staff, neighbouring
councils.
Internal: Councillors, Corporate Management Group, Council staff.
PURPOSE
Council delivers a wide range of services throughout Indigo Shire and it is important that our
broader community is aware of these. It is important that communication is maintained at a high
level with each of our many audiences to ensure co-operative relationships externally and smooth
operations internally. Communication is a two-way process.
Council wants to ensure that the services it provides to the broader community are the services
that are needed. Community engagement is essential to allow residents the opportunity to speak
on matters that directly affect them. And it is essential that Council staff are informed of issues that
impact on the services they deliver to the community.
IMPLEMENTATION
This strategy will be implemented across all Council departments primarily by Senior Managers
with valued assistance from their staff. The strategy, associated policies and procedures, will be
communicated to all teams. Communication is already a permanent heading in Council Agenda
reports and will be listed permanently as a topic on team and departmental meeting agendas to
highlight current projects and activities, and also included in revisions of all our other policies, plans
and strategies. This cycle of successful communication requires staff to feed information back to
the Media and Communications Department for further action.
This strategy identifies key aims and provides examples of focus areas over the next three years.
The primary objective is to improve communication between Council and the broader community,
and internally. We will continue to focus our thinking to create consistent messages, ensure
information is correct, ensure the most appropriate communication methods, target the right
audience and use resources efficiently. With high quality, regular communications the community
will be better informed to make judgements when it participates in Council business or responds to
either the annual Local Government state-wide benchmarking survey or Council’s survey.
CURRENT SITUATION
Council has had an effective Communications Policy since 2010, which has been reviewed and
updated as part of this strategy. We use a variety of communication methods to good effect.
Communication Strategy
Page 2 of 4
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Scores in Local Government state-wide benchmarking surveys since 2010 demonstrate that communication
and community engagement has improved over that time.
2010
Community 61
consultation
Customer
69
contact
2011
New methodology.
Comparison with past
results not possible.
2012
2013
Statewide
2013
62
Small
Shires
2013
58
65
61
70
71
71
70
71
57
There are a number of reasons for this improvement, including a much stronger focus on skilled
Communications staff, a new website, improved publications and better engagement with residents.
However, this has occurred mainly through innate knowledge and experience of relevant staff, without an
over-arching strategy. This strategy makes overt and codifies what we already do, and takes a broader and
deeper look at what is possible in the fast-changing area of communications, including Social Media.
WHAT IS REQUIRED
The goals of this strategy will be achieved by:
 Improving the level of effective, two-way communication, consultation and engagement
with our community, and internally
 Improving customer service
 Increasing community awareness of the services Council provides
 Supporting our community and lobbying other governments and agencies on their behalf on
issues of concern to them
 Making electronic communications a viable option for our community.
FOCUS
Key aims
1. Demonstrate a transparent
willingness to work in partnership
with people and organisations
Focus area
For example:
- Community forums, information sessions
- Working with the community on their issues of concern,
eg. Beechworth Trees Consultative Group
2. Encourage local knowledge and
input
For example:
- Inventory of community skills and interests
- Invite community input for appropriate projects
- Update Community Plans
- Promote community feedback
3. 3. Build community ownership in
Council projects
Communication Strategy
For example:
- Involve schools and community groups in appropriate
projects,
eg. Sustainability Awards, Indigo 2030 vision
- Embed a youth perspective in Council planning
Page 3 of 4
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
4. Involve the community in our plans
for improvement and share successes
For example:
- Simplify and increase access to staff
- Generate positive media stories
- Engage the community through Social Media
- Improve content and increase use of Council website and
intranet
- Encourage informal meetings between senior staff and
community
- Encourage community groups to invite Councillors to their
meetings and vice versa
- Acknowledge community input
5. Continuing professional
development in community
engagement and communication
processes
For example:
- Conduct training in media skills for Councillors and staff
- Facilitate community engagement/communications
workshops
- Review and update Council’s writing style guide to ensure
accurate, consistent communication
OUTCOME MEASUREMENT
This strategy will be measured by scores in Council’s annual survey, scores in the annual Statewide
Local Government Community Satisfaction survey, feedback in relation to front-line Council
interactions, and uptake of Social Media.
FINANCIAL AND RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
Although this strategy is an over-arching document that involves each department of Council, it will
take extra time to introduce and manage Social Media tools, particularly to build up a following in
the community, which could take at least 12 months. This cost in time could be offset by some
administrative assistance from the Corporate Services area.
RISK MANAGEMENT
The risk of not implementing this strategy, using all the communication tools available to us, is that
Council’s reputation could suffer because the community will not have a full picture of what we are
doing on their behalf. This void is easily filled with misinformation. Part of the package of
communication tools available to Council is Social Media, an invaluable tool especially in times of
emergency. It will take time to build up a following, and the risk in not doing so is the increase in
the likelihood of misinformation being circulated, which will be almost impossible to correct via
traditional methods.
CONCLUSION
This strategy captures what we do and looks at what is possible for the future. Indigo Shire Council is a small
rural Council and resources are limited. However, the implementation of this strategy and associated
policies will allow this organisation to better meet the demands of a discerning community thirsty for
knowledge and information, and it will allow us to use a variety of traditional and digital tools in the fastchanging area of communications.
Communication Strategy
Page 4 of 4