Victoria: The Place To Be

Dept. for Vic. Communities

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Community Strengthening

The Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) represents the Victorian Government’s efforts to deliver government services in a way that supports and strengthens communities across Victoria. Community strengthening is about creating sustainable networks and building collaborative relationships between individuals and groups to achieve common objectives for their communities.

The decision to place the local government portfolio within DPCD reflects the significant role local governments play in contributing to community strengthening. In 2004, the Department commissioned Professor Mark Considine from Melbourne University to research the role of local governments in community strengthening.

The project resulted in three papers:

• Community Strengthening and the role of local government (26 Feb 2004) (PDF 302 kb) or (Word 215 kb) sets out the concept and relevant international experience
• Building connections – community strengthening and local government in Victoria (August 2004) describes relevant experience in Victoria
• Actions for community strengthening with local government (April 2005) proposes actions for local governments to take to further develop their capacities, and actions for the state to take to support local governments in their role

This project was completed in consultation with local governments and peak associations.

A major community strengthening conference was hosted on 13 May 2005 at the Flemington Events Centre. Participants at the conference discussed how government could change the way it works with local communities across Victoria.

The conference was attended by more than 240 senior delegates representing 64 local government areas as well as state government departments, business and the community sector.

A report summarising the proceedings of the conference - State and Local Governments Working Together to Build Stronger Communities Conference Report and Next Steps - was released on 19 September 2005.

Local Government: Partnerships, ideas and actions

Partnerships, ideas and action report, highlights innovative and responsive local government projects. The projects show how councils work with their communities rather than for them.


This page contains downloadable documents. In order to view PDF documents you will require Adobe Reader. To view other file types such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and ZIP, other tools may be required.

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