Participatory and Deliberative Practitioners in Australia: How Work Context Creates Different Types of Practitioners

Abstract

Public institutions in Australia are subject to increasing statutory requirements to engage their communities, and consequently the number of practitioners has increased. These participatory and deliberative practitioners design, deliver, and evaluate democratic processes on behalf of public institutions. This article argues that the practitioner body has broadened, where different types of practitioners can now be identified in Australia. This broadening is the result of three main variables: (1) whether practitioners are employed by or contracted to public institutions; (2) whether they are engaged to work on projects with limited or considerable scope; and (3) whether they are focused on limited time frame processes or entire programs. Drawing on the results of a mixed method study, including survey and semi-structured interviews, this article explores the work contexts that shape the contemporary Australian practitioner, drawing lessons that can inform their practice in other contexts.

Public engagement and its practitioners: Opening up and looking beyond the black box of facilitation

“…Indeed, the practice of a government sponsor hiring a consultant to organize a specific participatory forum goes beyond the simple delegation of participatory services from governments to consultants. Some private sponsors also initiate participatory processes themselves in order to comply with direct or indirect legislative requirements for public engagement to the extent the legal framework governing public engagement encourages them to do so (Christensen 2019). For example, in the environmental impact assessment process, it is in the project proponent's interest to organize participatory arrangements themselves, thereby demonstrating to public authorities that the project in question is socially acceptable and that they have established a relationship with the affected communities.…”

“…As part of their work with sponsors, we know that PEPs need to introduce sponsors to participatory design, review the benefits and drawbacks of the various kinds of participatory arrangements, show the benefits of being open and transparent, and so on (Christensen 2019; Lee 2015). Participatory arrangement sponsors need to be involved in negotiating and establishing the design of participatory arrangements, especially the selection of the publics to be consulted, and the production of the related information materials.…”