9 Learning points from the study
9.1 The National Standards provide a shared language and consistent understanding of the nature and elements of effective community engagement which did not exist before. This has had the effect of enhancing communication between community engagement specialists and non-specialists.
9.2 The National Standards have given Community Planning Partnerships and Community Planning Partners a framework and language with which to describe their community engagement practice and their plans for improving that practices.
9.3 Community Planning Partners with limited expertise and experience in community engagement require support from community engagement specialists to interpret the National Standards' relevance to their practice. Locally produced and discipline specific resources which are more explicitly focused on the practical implementation of community engagement are valuable complements to the National Standards.
9.4 The National Standards are applicable as a framework for review of the 'fitness for purpose' of community engagement in a diverse range of situations including Community Planning Partnership structures, Community Planning Partner strengths and weaknesses, community consultation exercises and individual practitioner reflection.
9.5 The National Standards have assisted Community Planning Partnerships and Community Planning Partners to identify specific areas for improvement of community engagement processes. The Feedback Standard in particular has contributed to a significantly enhanced awareness of the importance of investing in providing feedback to communities from engagement and consultation exercises.
9.6 Some practitioners have a misplaced confidence in the quality of their community engagement practice which the National Standards have not been effective in challenging. This misplaced confidence has the potential to limit the impact of the National Standards on improving community engagement.
9.7 The National Standards are not always immediately relevant to Community Planning Partners. They can become relevant in situations where Community Planning Partners are required to undertake or evidence community engagement or consultation as part of service/strategic planning and review processes.
9.8 The National Standards have provided a resource for practitioners to consider the nature of community engagement outcomes and how to evidence them. They are however insufficient as a tool to provide evidence of community engagement outcomes.
9.9 The National Standards are contributing to a 'culture change' in how community engagement is perceived. In the long term the status and impact of the National Standards will change as commitment to high quality community engagement becomes more embedded in the culture of public service provision.
9.10 The absence of significant requirements for Community Planning Partners to report on the quality of community engagement processes or the outcomes arising from these processes limits the potential of the National Standards to become embedded in mainstream service planning.
9.11 The introduction of Outcome Agreements for public services may provide an opportunity to further embed community engagement processes and to develop systems to capture and evidence outcomes from community engagement.