Forgotten stakeholders

Whenever possible, stakeholder engagements should be planned to include people living with disadvantage.

Disadvantage – relative to an ‘ordinary’ stakeholder – may include (but not be limited to) any or all of:

• Social distress, such as low family income, housing affordability stress, or living in a single-person household
• Health factors, such as a mental or physical disability, or limited access to health services 
• Community safety, such as lived experience of domestic violence or significant criminal convictions
• Economic factors, such as long-term under- or unemployment, living in remote or regional communities or a lack of access to the internet, and
• Education factors, such as low levels of literacy (including digital literacy), numeracy, or employability skills.

Ideally, people experiencing disadvantage should be able to engage with a project at the appropriate level with minimal assistance.

This is because they will often bring a different understanding of an issue. 

Many projects not relevant to a person’s disadvantage will also be of interest to them as members of the community!

The degree to which they should be included depends on the project and how much it impacts the disadvantaged person.

• Direct impact: Projects that directly involve the disadvantaged, such as changes to a disability-specific service, should include targeted engagement with relevant stakeholders.
• Disproportionate impact: Projects that involve the whole community but may have an impact on the disadvantaged more than others – such as a building renovation or public event project – should also involve direct consultation with people with disadvantage.
• Community impact: Projects that involve the whole community and are likely to have an impact on the community equally, such as a change to pollution regulations, should include disadvantaged people. However, specific targeting of people living with disadvantage may not be necessary.

You should also include and respond to the specific needs of potentially ‘double disadvantaged‘ people, such as those from indigenous and non-English speaking communities and those who live in rural and remote areas, as well as their families and caregivers. 

If you are not sure whether or how to engage people, it may be worthwhile talking to a relevant government agency, disability service provider, or advocacy group in your region.

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Making it work

All of the engagement methods discussed in this Unit are appropriate for people living with disadvantage.

However, there are some important points you need to keep in mind if your engagement is to be fully inclusive.

Lead times

Let people know far enough ahead the issues they are being consulted on so that they can prepare well thought out responses.

Appropriate lead times are an important factor in enabling people with disadvantage to participate more fully in an engagement process because:

• many peak bodies represent large groups of people with disadvantage and need adequate time to consult with their constituents, and
• the nature of some disadvantage may reduce the capacity for people to respond quickly.

You should agree on a time frame that allows sufficient lead time for comments to be obtained, to locate and recruit participants, and to arrange any necessary support requirements such as attendant, respite, or child care during the planning stages of any consultation process.

As with any engagement process, you should also ensure that all participants know the finalization date.

Meetings

The following factors should be considered when organizing a meeting, workshop, or focus group that is likely to be attended by people living with disadvantage.

• Hold meetings in geographic proximity to the communities most impacted; this gives the whole community greater access to the consultation/collaboration process. 
• Extensively advertise opportunities for consultation and collaboration, making information available in accessible formats – including braille, Easy English, large-print, and languages other than English – before and during the meeting.
• Ensure the venue is accessible by public transport. The absence of public transportation restricts people’s ability to participate. If there is no other suitable venue, you may need to consider some transport assistance.
• Engaging a sign-language or other interpreter should be considered so that people who are deaf or non-English speakers can participate in the proceedings. In this case, you will need to ensure that people relying on the interpreter are seated in a position where they can easily see him/her.
• Enough time should be allocated for each person to speak, including those who may need more time to express their view, such as people who have difficulty speaking, have an intellectual disability or an acquired brain injury, or who use non-verbal communication methods such as word boards or computers.
• Provide feedback to the community as to changes resulting from the engagement process; it is important that the public knows the effects that your engagement has on the project.

You should also note that people who experience communication or cognitive difficulties usually prefer small focus or discussion groups with reasonable lead times.

However, for people with an intellectual disability, group discussions can sometimes be challenging to follow, particularly when individuals shift from topic to topic. One-to-one interviews are preferable for this group.

Venues

Particular access issues to consider include:

• Are the building and the meeting areas accessible to people with mobility difficulties?
• Is entry through the front door?
• Does the building have clear signage set at appropriate heights?
• Is the building close to public transport, and does it have clearly defined ‘drop off’ and ‘pick up’ points?
• Are the toilets and bathrooms on the same floor as the meeting areas, and are they accessible?
• Does the building have assistive listening systems, such as hearing loops?
• Is the building free of features such as flickering lights that may trigger attacks of particular illnesses, for instance, Meniere’s Disease or epilepsy?

To ensure that cost does not deter participation, you may also need to consider:

• reimbursement of taxi or public transport fares
• the use of a free call number
• visiting the person in their home
• providing attendant care or support services during the consultation, and
• providing child care.

As with all forms of stakeholder engagement, the sooner you identify, prioritize, and include disadvantaged groups in your planning, the more efficient and effective the outcomes will be.