Community Development
Community Services
Culture
Defining Benchmarking
Foreword
Framework for Indicators of Community Development
Framework for Community Services Indicators
Good Practice Councils
Indicators of Community Well-being
Indicators of Community Development Practice
Integrated Local Area Planning
Our Local Governance Role
Recreation and Sport
Social Capital
Social Justice
Social Planning
Strategic Planning
Working Definitions of Terms Used

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"Working Together to Develop our Communities"

Good practice and benchmarking in Local Government community development and community services

Foreword

This project was initiated in 1998 by the Local Government Community Services Association of Australia. Its purpose is to address the challenges being faced by Local Government community development staff across Australia in understanding the context of benchmarking and good practice and its application to our work in local communities.

From our perspective, benchmarking is not about competitiveness, but rather relates to our concept of networking, deliberately continuing our long held practice of communication with each other about our work and sharing our methodology.

Rather than be caught up in today's language of competition, we have opted for the evolving concept of good practice in recognition of building a shared direction for our social environment. This is consistent with our commitment at a local, state and national level to constant improvement in performance.

The document moves from the conceptual to the practical, and provides the first attempt at national definitions of community development, community services, local governance and social capital from the perspective of Local Government community development staff. It also provides a value base and a framework for measurement so that the outcomes of our community work can be clearly understood and communicated.

We considered that it was important in this project not to rush toward development of a performance indicator checklist as a panacea for every community. Rather, in upholding the maxim that 'each community is distinct and different', we have provided a context and a list of resources in order that each community can understand what it wants to achieve and how efficiency and effectiveness can be locally measured.

We are indebted to our principal consultant, Jackie Ohlin, who has patiently worked with Council staff across Australia, and has reflected on her own extensive experience to prepare the text.

Our thanks also go to members of the National Committee of the Local Government Community Services Association of Australia; to Dee Elliott, a community consultant from Queensland; to Sue O'Brien from Townsville City Council; and to the countless staff in Local Councils who have participated in workshops and contributed their knowledge and ideas.

Finally, may I thank the Federal Government and its Office of Local Government (in the Department of Transport and Regional Services), who funded our Association to undertake the task and publish our work. I hope that their trust in us will increase our capacity to assist the development of local communities and measure our performance against the values of social justice.

Frank Hornby
Project Convenor
Local Government Community Services Association of Australia

Working Definitions of Terms Used

The project submission indicated that it was critically important to articulate agreed definitions for our activities, as in some cases Local Government has relied on definitions provided through other sources and from a decade ago.

Early in the process, draft definitions were circulated to practitioners as part of an Issues Paper. These were refined through consultations and accepted by the National Committee of the Local Government Community Services Association of Australia as working definitions for the project. The definitions we have used are described in full in the body of the paper.

Defining Benchmarking

In essence, we are talking about an ongoing, systematic process to compare an organisation's own internal performance to external performance standards of excellence and thence to close the resultant performance gap(s) through continuous improvement.

Benchmarking involves both quantitative and qualitative performance indicators, and especially within the context of community development, should be undertaken in a non-competitive environment between benchmarking partners.

Indeed, Dee Elliott, community development consultant from Queensland, suggests that "with its incitement to excellence, but done in company, with the support and stimulation of colleagues, benchmarking is made for community development".

This belief in benchmarking as a continuous improvement tool, not an absolute, was reinforced by practitioners at a national workshop early in the project. Theirs was the sense that to rail against benchmarking and outcome measurement reforms would be to invite imposed conditions - better that we should define our own, to embrace our practice and the development of just and vibrant communities. Shared learning is seen as an important part of that process.

We are conscious that the benchmarking and good practice of which we speak, relate to both the products of community development and community services and the processes that drive them. While there has been historical resistance (for reasons both valid and occasionally for convenience) to applying measures to community development and community services, the challenge is now on to develop measures that are valid, rewarding, integral with every day activities, useful, sensible and locally relevant. They must also enable us as workers and decision-makers to develop an holistic view of the service or activity within a social policy context, and to inform changes in practice and policy, both on a local scale (our constituency) and more generally.

Our Local Governance Role

What makes Local Government unique is its local governance role. It is a role which has been described as developing the practice of citizenship and the function of community.

Note that this definition is not the static one enunciated by the authors of national competition policy. Nor is it one which sees Local Government as the statutory authority simply providing utilities in a detached, impersonal way. Rather, it celebrates the engagement of Local Government with community members in building just and vibrant communities (the sentiments of which are often expressed in Council mission statements or corporate plans).

Exploring the values and principles that make community development practice unique has thus become central to this project. These values, based upon principles of social justice, embrace:

• Equity in the distribution of resources

• Access to quality services

• Participation in decision-making

• Equality of opportunity.

With these values being at the core of community development, effective benchmarking of our practice, our community's state of well-being and the state of individual services becomes possible. Without the value base we might just as well call in the bean counters!

Community Development

Community development is central to Local Government, with its emphasis on serving people, enhancing communities and being responsive to local needs. People issues are mainstream Local Government activities, and for decades, Councils have been involved in shaping and building communities. Councils are also committed to increasing the community’s capacity to generate and sustain cooperative responses to issues. The focus of community development is on HOW we conduct our practice in local communities, and about determining and achieving desired and cooperatively planned outcomes.

Community Services

Community services may be defined as a system for providing support to sustain and nurture the functioning of individuals, families and groups, to maximise their potential for development and to enhance community well being. Outcomes and processes in community services are directed by the principles of social justice. Outcomes may be achieved through a range of co-operative process including research, consultation, planning, co-ordination, negotiation, advocacy and service provision.

Community services are often but not only directed towards target groups such as families, low income earners, women, unemployed people, people with disabilities, aged people, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and victims of violence and abuse.

Community services are often provided in areas such as housing, shelters and refuges, employment and training, public and community transport, child care, income support, finance and emergency assistance, health, education, community centres, community information, legal and consumer advocacy, community safety and counselling/emotional support.

Culture

Culture defines who we are, and it encompasses our entire way of life, our ethics, our institutions, our manners and our routines. It is the cumulative expression of community identity through the natural and built environment; heritage and shared languages; through the arts and crafts; recreation and leisure activities; and the many other ways by which creative identity is expressed, interpreted and acknowledged.

Integrated Local Area Planning

Integrated Local Area Planning encourages a holistic view of planning and development through a strategic assessment of significant physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural issues. It emphasises the composite needs of different localities and promotes a partnership between the three spheres of Government, the community and private sector. Its focus is on co-ordination and establishing long term processes for decision making and resource allocation.

Recreation and Sport

Recreation and sport, defined broadly, places these areas within community services as well as open space planning. Sport and recreation are defined as activities that are generally included in people’s leisure or free time and involve a social component. Sport tends to be more organised and competitive than recreation which may be either active or passive. Both sport and recreation are seen to be bringing benefits to the individual in terms of physical and psychological well being as well as social and economic benefits to the community.

Social Capital

The concept of social capital may be understood, at its simplest, to be an outcome of community development processes involving investment in communities - including existing community resources, acquired money and the economy of joint effort.

Social Justice

The outcomes and processes of community development, and the planning and provision of community services are underpinned by the principles of social justice. These embrace:

• Equity in the distribution of resources

• Access to quality services

• Participation in decision-making

• Equality of opportunity.

Social Planning

Social Planning is an organised process for investigating and responding to the needs and aspirations of the people who live or work in a community. It integrates the participatory processes and values of community development with the technical activities of planning so that communities can create their desired future. It reinforces that social factors and community participation are integral to the land use planning process and to the development of community services.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning may be described as a process of preparing for future action. For community organisations, strategic planning is generally characterised as much by its process for achieving change as by its aims. A strategic plan is an operational plan that describes a situation and identifies what is to be done to improve it. A strategy focuses attention on the longer-term vision and on the next steps towards achieving it. It is important to take account of the environment in which change is sought - the forces at play. To achieve change, understanding the environment is as relevant as understanding the needs to be addressed and the directions for change.

A Framework for Indicators of Community Development

The indicators we have selected in our framework are sourced back to the definition of community development practice, the principles underpinning that practice and the processes and outcomes which issue from that practice.

Conscious that indicators need to be developed locally, to suit local needs, a framework for the development of indicators for overall community well-being and also for community development practice have been prepared. Practitioners asserted the need for both quantitative and qualitative indicators, and for social policy impacts and social justice principles to be explicit.

The examples of indicators are drawn from state based workshops undertaken with practitioners during August and September 1998. They are intended as a guide only.

The framework embraces two sets of indicators:

1. Indicators of Community Well-being

These are developed in the following theme areas:

• Economic Vitality

• Celebration of Place

• Ease of Access to Services and Facilities

• Community Harmony

• A Healthy Community

• Participation in Community Life

• A Safer Community

• Cultural Development.

For each theme area, an action area may be selected and an indicator or indicators may be developed and measured.

2. Indicators of Community Development Practice

These give us information about the processes we use daily to achieve desired outcomes. The practice areas identified include:

• Networking

• Provision of Information

• Needs Assessment/Issues Definition

• Planning and Coordination

• Capacity Building

• Policy Development.

For each practice area, an action area may be selected and an indicator or indicators may be developed and measured.

A Framework for Community Services Indicators

Integrated Local Area Planning (ILAP) provides a framework for the development of indicators for the planning processes for community services followed by Local Government. Community services principles, reflecting a social justice value base, are incorporated into a framework for the provision or delivery of community services.

Good Practice Councils

Throughout the course of the benchmarking and good practice exercise we have been in constant communication with a number of Councils throughout Australia. While the focus of this document is the context of benchmarking and good practice in community development and community services, the practical outcome is the networking of information on how Councils are planning, developing and reviewing their particular services. The Councils listed below have shared their information and are willing to continue the process of communication.

The Local Government Community Services Association of Australia in cooperation with the State Associations of Local Government Community Services is committed to pursuing the coordination of benchmarking and good practice in community development and community services. Updated lists of participating Councils and their particular areas of expertise will be published on a regular basis and forwarded to all Councils. In particular, our ongoing work will feature performance indicators that are manageable and realistic.

© LGCSAA 2000 - Updated

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