What can be influenced:
Policy updates: Community members and council staff can help update the Community Engagement Policy. Your ideas will help make our projects clearer, easier to access, better timed, and better supported.
Consultation opened
22 June 2026
Consultation closed
26 July 2026
Contributions received
175
⭐Project background
Project background
Ipswich is projected to grow to over half a million people by 2041. Effective community engagement has never been more important.
The Community Engagement Policy applies to all council staff and is scheduled for review in November 2026.
Before that happens, we want to hear from staff who engage with the community as part of their role.
Your feedback will help shape an updated policy that is practical, effective and reflects the realities of engaging a growing and diverse community. This includes:
- Whether the policy supports you to engage effectively
- Where there are gaps or barriers in the practice
- How council can build engagement capability across the organisation.
Consultation now closed. Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts.
You can read the full findings, including how staff responses compared with the community and youth feedback in the Community Engagement Report or click the button below see a summary of what staff said.
Community engagement process
Step 1 of 10
Initial contact
The Project Lead (PL) submits a request to the Community Research and Engagement (CRE) Team for support. An initial meeting is set up to discuss the project further.
Loading...
-
-
What can not be influenced:
- Final approval: The elected council makes the final decision and must officially vote to adopt the policy.
- Deadline: The policy must be renewed by November 2026.
- The law: We must follow all legal rules under the Human Rights Act 2019 and council's official responsibilities.
🗣️What you shared
Here's a snapshot of what we heard from the 14 staff who responded:
-
We have CE experience
86% of you have worked on a project that required community engagement.
-
Support is on track
79% of you felt the CE team gave you the support you needed, and 71% felt timelines were appropriate.
-
Simplify the reporting process
71% of you feel the current commitments are on the right track and don't need rewriting, but you told us the reporting process being clear was the one area that needs the most work.
-
Ease the approval load
The challenges you raised most often were tight deadlines, a complex approval process, and limited budget.
-
Clarify the roles up front
You'd like clearer roles and responsibilities for project teams, and better guidance on choosing the right engagement method for the project.
-
CE Plan template improvement
Several of you told us the CE Plan template is clear in principle but long, especially if you don't have a lot of experience with engagement.
You can read the full findings, including how staff responses compared with the community and youth feedback in the Community Engagement Report or click the button below to review from the main project page.
📣How you shared
Staff were able to share their feedback on this project using one of the engagement channels below:
- Completing our online survey
- Submitting a hard copy survey via internal mail
- Emailing us directly at communityengagement@ipswich.qld.gov.au
- Calling our Contact Centre on 07 3810 6666
Ideas wall
What would make community engagement work better at council?
Share your ideas openly. There are no right or wrong answers.
CLOSED. The visioning activity has now concluded. Click to see all the submitted ideas.
No submissions yet.
Quick poll
If you could change one thing about how council engages with the community, what would it be?
This poll has concluded.
- More early engagement before decisions are made 0% (0 votes)
- Clearer guidance and tools for staff 100% (2 votes)
- More channels to reach diverse communities 0% (0 votes)
- Better follow through on what we do with feedback 0% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 2
❓FAQ
Thank you for your valuable contributions
Read the full findings, including how staff responses compared with the community and youth feedback in the report or on the main project page.
