Community engagement is the way councils involve their communities in decisions that affect them. Through our engagement activities we aim to share clear, accessible information and provide meaningful opportunities for our community to have their say in a variety of ways.

New Community Engagement Charter

Changes to the Local Government Act 1999 (the Act) in relation to public consultation included the establishment of a Community Engagement Charter (the Charter), which was formalised and published in December 2025.

The Charter replaces previous engagement requirements in the Act with a new framework that sets out engagement principles, categories of consultation, and the associated minimum actions required of all councils.

All SA councils are required to adopt a Community Engagement Policy which aligns with the new Charter by 11 September 2026.

Draft Community Engagement Policy

Our draft Community Engagement Policy includes:

• the legislated areas of Council’s work that require community feedback, as well as initiatives where Council will seek input beyond these requirements
• the levels and methods of engagement Council will undertake at a minimum to gather community feedback (depending on the nature, scale and impact of the initiative) in line with the Charter
• principles guiding engagement, including transparency, inclusivity, accessibility and timeliness
• making it clear how community feedback will be considered in decision-making, and how outcomes and decisions will be communicated back to the community

When developing our draft policy we also considered relevant sections of our current Community Engagement Public Consultation Policy for retention.

Read the draft policy here.