3. Consultation Consultation will often be the most resource-intensive stage of a review. If done well, it can generate valuable feedback for the review, as well as goodwill among stakeholders. Stakeholders are more likely to support a review if they feel their concerns were heard, even if they do not agree with the final recommendations. Detailed information on designing a consultation process is also contained in The Australian Policy Handbook. Key consideration 10: plan consultation Clarify the desired outcomes from consultation and the breadth and depth required to achieve the outcomes. Develop a consultation plan to determine appropriate communication strategies and methods for each stakeholder group. The consultation process can occur one or more phases or Each round can be ‘rounds’. formed around a dialogue in which information is sought from stakeholders. A review process should include a reasonable and appropriate timeframe for stakeholders to provide their views on the legislation. This timeframe will vary with each review and will depend on many variables. However, it is important to note that stakeholders expect consultation to end when they feel their views have been heard and understood. An appropriate timeframe and a well-managed consultation plan can ensure that this is the case. Terms such as background paper or discussion paper are commonly used to describe a consultation documents; however, there is diversity in the meanings that review’s individual agencies attribute to each term, depending on the context and the intended function (see the Glossary for more information). The desired outcomes of consultation will influence the type of consultation document used (if such a document is actually used). For example, if a review is seeking stakeholder feedback on a proposed regulatory model, it may choose to invest time and
3. Consultation Consultation will often be the most resource-intensive stage of a review. If done well, it can generate valuable feedback for the review, as well as goodwill among stakeholders. Stakeholders are more likely to support a review if they feel their concerns were heard, even if they do not agree with the final recommendations. Detailed information on designing a consultation process is also contained in The Australian Policy Handbook. Key consideration 10: plan consultation Clarify the desired outcomes from consultation and the breadth and depth required to achieve the outcomes. Develop a consultation plan to determine appropriate communication strategies and methods for each stakeholder group. The consultation process can occur one or more phases or ‘rounds’. Each round can be formed around a dialogue in which information is sought from stakeholders. A review process should include a reasonable and appropriate timeframe for stakeholders to provide their views on the legislation. This timeframe will vary with each review and will depend on many variables. However, it is important to note that stakeholders expect consultation to end when they feel their views have been heard and understood. An appropriate timeframe and a well-managed consultation plan can ensure that this is the case. Terms such as background paper or discussion paper are commonly used to describe a review’s consultation documents; however, there is diversity in the meanings that individual agencies attribute to each term, depending on the context and the intended function (see the Glossary for more information). The desired outcomes of consultation will influence the type of consultation document used (if such a document is actually used). For example, if a review is seeking stakeholder feedback on a proposed regulatory model, it may choose to invest time and
guidelines_for_the_review_of_legislation.docx