More than compliance: How SA’s new community engagement charter is pushing councils toward a new era of participation

If you work in local government, you most likely know community expectations are shifting fast. People want more transparency, earlier involvement, and genuine clarity about how their voices shape decisions. Now, with South Australia’s new Community Engagement Charter coming into effect, these expectations have been formalised into a framework that councils must follow.

That said, it’s important that we don’t see the charter as merely a legal checklist; its intent and value extend well beyond that. It’s an opportunity to step confidently into more contemporary, flexible, and community‑centred engagement practice.

Digital gov tech tools like Engagement Cloud can make this transition not only achievable, but transformative. Let’s look at what’s changing — and how councils can respond.

A charter with clear expectations (and real opportunities)

The charter replaces the previous consultation requirements under the Local Government Act with a more structured, principles‑based approach. The minister formally established the charter under Section 50 of the Act, meaning councils are now required to follow its framework.

At the heart of the charter are principles we can all get behind:

• Timely, meaningful, and ongoing opportunities for communities to participate.
• Plain‑language, accessible information that’s easy for people to understand.
• Constructive dialogue and appropriate methods scaled to the impact of the decision.
• Transparency around how community views shape outcomes.

For councils, this means engagement needs to be more deliberate, inclusive, and transparent — especially when decisions have significant community impacts.

Five categories of engagement: A framework that fits reality

One of the most practical changes is the introduction of five consultation categories: Significant (Annual Business Plan & Rating Policy), Significant (Ratepayers and Residents), Standard, Local, and Inform. Each comes with minimum actions that councils must take.

A key theme that came through in the feedback on the draft charter was the need for clearer, more proportionate engagement requirements. The introduction of these categories shows the charter is both setting expectations for councils and modelling them, responding directly to what communities and stakeholders said was needed.

This categorisation gives councils a framework that:

• Matches engagement activity to the impact and significance of decisions.
• Provides clarity and consistency while still allowing for flexibility.
• Supports more proportionate and scalable approaches rather than one-size-fits-all consultation.

The result: Councils can confidently plan and deliver engagement that is fit‑for‑purpose, defensible, and aligned with contemporary community expectations.

Inclusivity, accessibility, and transparency aren’t optional

The charter’s emphasis on meeting diverse community needs is a major step forward. Multiple submissions made during consultation on the draft highlighted that inclusive engagement is essential for effective decision‑making.

This means councils need to adopt approaches that genuinely consider:

• People at risk of being left behind.
• Language and literacy barriers.
• Digital inclusion.
• Cultural and demographic diversity.

Beyond inclusion, the charter also requires councils to clearly communicate how the community’s input influenced the outcome — something that has long been a gap in traditional consultation processes.

Five ways Granicus can help

The shift the charter demands isn’t about doing more just for the sake of it; the motivation behind the redirection is about smarter engagement. This is where Engagement Cloud takes all the guess work out.

1. Meet minimum requirements with scalable tools

The charter’s mandatory actions — publishing information, inviting submissions, holding online or face-to-face sessions — can be managed seamlessly through our Sentiment & Feedback suite of tools.

Whether councils need to simply “Inform” through clear updates or undertake “Significant” engagement requiring high transparency and dialogue, our Sentiment & Feedback solution provides:

• A structured way to host information hubs.
• Tools for submissions, surveys, forums, mapping, budgeting, and Q&A.
• Spaces for document libraries, plain-language summaries, and interactive media.

This means councils can demonstrate compliance and elevate community experience at the same time.

2. Better storytelling and impact reporting

The charter’s requirement to show how community views influence decisions is exactly where our platforms excel. Our Sentiment & Feedback tools allow councils to:

• Track and display participation data.
• Publish transparent “We Asked/You Said/We Did” summaries.
• Use visual dashboards to communicate engagement impacts.
• Share outcomes with targeted groups using Engagement Cloud.

This kind of transparency builds trust, legitimacy, and encourages ongoing participation. By connecting your community with the impact of their feedback on your consultations, as well as the long‑term benefits and changes from the project, councils can do the following:

• Demonstrate accountability in a tangible, visible way: People are far more likely to stay engaged when they can see where their feedback went. Turning raw input into clearly connected decisions shows that council is acting with purpose.
• Strengthen the credibility of future engagement: When communities understand how and why decisions were made, even if they don’t agree with the final outcome, the process feels fair. That sense of fairness becomes the foundation for stronger participation next time.
• Turn engagement into an ongoing relationship, not a one‑off transaction: Impact reporting creates a narrative thread across the entire life of a project — early insights, community priorities, design shifts, final decisions, and eventual implementation. This keeps communities informed, involved and invested over time.
• Reduce cynicism and “feedback fatigue”: Most frustration in community engagement stems from not knowing what happened after people contributed. Closing the loop reduces the sense that engagement disappears into a black box.
• Build internal confidence and consistency: When engagement officers can easily produce clear summaries and visual insights, it lifts the overall quality of reporting across the organisation. It also helps project teams, executives, and elected officials make decisions aligned with both evidence and sentiment.
• Create a shared story of progress: Impact reporting shows what has happened since the project was completed; it moves the narrative from “here’s what we heard” to “here’s what’s been done because of it.” By continuing the story beyond the decision point, councils can clearly articulate not only what was decided, but why, and how community thinking shaped the journey. This sustained transparency reinforces the value of participation, nurtures long‑term civic culture, and helps communities see their role in driving real, ongoing change.

3. Reach the right people, not just the loudest voices

Inclusivity requires targeted outreach, not just open invitations. Engagement Cloud helps councils:

• Segment audiences.
• Send tailored updates.
• Reach under‑represented groups.
• Deliver multilingual and accessible communication.

If the charter expects councils to meet diverse needs (and it does), this level of precision is essential.

4. Support early, continuous, and principles-based engagement

The charter promotes early and ongoing engagement rather than late-stage consultation. Engagement Cloud makes this easier by enabling councils to:

• Set up multi-stage projects.
• Keep momentum with continuous messaging.
• Host ongoing conversation.
• Build communities of interest around key themes.

Instead of engagement being a single event, it becomes a relationship.

5. Build internal capability and confidence

Councils often cite limited resources as a barrier. Engagement Cloud reduces administrative load, centralises content, and can help organisations with repeatable, compliant workflows. This frees up teams to focus on the real work: strategic, meaningful engagement.

South Australia’s new Community Engagement Charter is a modernisation of how councils and communities work together. It codifies what good engagement has looked like for years — and pushes the sector to embrace clearer, more inclusive, more transparent practice.

Granicus is ready to help you turn the Charter into an opportunity for leadership. With Engagement Cloud, we’ll help you deliver engagement that’s inclusive, transparent, and future-ready.