Water stakeholder engagement and communication policy

We are committed to effective and genuine communication and engagement with stakeholders and the broader community. The department recognises that engaging with stakeholders and the community leads to better public policy outcomes, improved service delivery and enhanced customer satisfaction. Our Water stakeholder engagement and communication policy describes how we will complete stakeholder engagement and communication activities. The policy has been updated to address findings of the independent review discussed below. Regular reviews of the policy’s implementation and effectiveness will ensure that staff demonstrate best practice in all stakeholder engagement and communication activities.

Policy

Our Water stakeholder and community engagement policy describes how we will complete this engagement.

Download the Water stakeholder engagement and communication policy (PDF. 153KB)

Independent review of the previous water engagement policy

The Water Group engaged KPMG between November 2021–March 2022 to conduct the independent review (audit) of the previous Water stakeholder and community engagement policy and provide recommendations for a recurring audit program framework. This was a direct action to respond to Recommendation 9 of the November 2020 ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) Report (further details below).

The review considered the implementation and effectiveness of the policy against the following engagement standards:

Accountability Principles Standard (AA1000APS)
Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES)
International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Quality Assurance Standard.

The gap analysis focused on the following elements:

Commitment and policy – Formalise and communicate a commitment to better practice principles, and develop an organisation-wide strategy for stakeholder and community engagement
Governance and decision-making – Integrate engagement outputs into organisational governance, strategy and management and establish a mandate and owners for engagement
Purpose, priorities, and planning – Determine the purpose and scope of engagement programs, undertake stakeholder mapping, determine appropriate engagement techniques, ensure capability and capacity, identify and prepare for engagement risks, and prepare a stakeholder engagement plan
Delivery – Conduct and document engagement, in part through inviting and supporting the participation of stakeholders
Results and outcomes – Develop and communicate a response to engagement outputs, and demonstrate the influence of participant input
Evaluation and review – Monitor and evaluate the engagement using measurable indicators and identify and act on learnings.

Findings and recommendations from the April 2022 Audit Report are below:

Letter (PDF. 270KB) - The letter of observation is a summary of KPMG’s activities, findings, and recommendations.
Report (PDF. 882KB) - The audit report is an account of KPMG’s detailed findings and recommendations.

Improving stakeholder engagement

The ICAC November 2020 Investigation into complaints of corruption in the management of water in NSW and systemic non-compliance with the Water Management Act 2000 report included 15 recommendations. Three related to stakeholder engagement:

ICAC	Details
Recommendation 8	That the department publishes all stakeholder and community engagement plans concerning water management when they are complete.
Recommendation 9	That the department tasks an appropriately qualified and experienced independent reviewer to conduct, on a recurrent basis, reviews of the steps taken to implement its “Water stakeholder and community engagement policy” and the policy’s effectiveness. The independent reviewer should have the function of making such recommendations as they think necessary to ensure that all water stakeholders have their interests heard in a fair, balanced, and transparent way.
Recommendation 10	That the department develops a model procedure concerning the conduct of meetings with external stakeholders in respect of water management issues that includes requirements to: Make records of these meetings Publish meeting details including attendees, organisations represented and meeting agendas, on the water area of the department’s website at least monthly.

ICAC

Details

Recommendation 8

That the department publishes all stakeholder and community engagement plans concerning water management when they are complete.

Recommendation 9

That the department tasks an appropriately qualified and experienced independent reviewer to conduct, on a recurrent basis, reviews of the steps taken to implement its “Water stakeholder and community engagement policy” and the policy’s effectiveness. The independent reviewer should have the function of making such recommendations as they think necessary to ensure that all water stakeholders have their interests heard in a fair, balanced, and transparent way.

Recommendation 10

That the department develops a model procedure concerning the conduct of meetings with external stakeholders in respect of water management issues that includes requirements to:

Make records of these meetings
Publish meeting details including attendees, organisations represented and meeting agendas, on the water area of the department’s website at least monthly.

The Water Group is committed to implementing the recommendations, as described in the March 2021 response to the ICAC Report.

The department’s 12-month Progress Report on implementing actions was submitted to ICAC in May 2022 and published on ICAC’s website.