Measuring community development: Perspectives from local government in Western Australia

Authors

Sherry Saggers, Edith Cowan University
May Carter, Edith Cowan University
Stuart Boyd, Aderlaide City Council
Trudi Cooper, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Christopher Sonn, Edith Cowan University

Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Australian Council of Social Service

Faculty

Faculty of Computing, Health and Science

School

School of Psychology and Social Science

RAS ID

1941

Comments

Saggers, S. , Carter, M., Boyd, S. J., Cooper, T. , & Sonn, C. C. (2003). Measuring community development: Perspectives from local government in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 38(1), 19-37. Available here

Abstract

Local government in Australia has become an important site for discussions about community development and community well being, as increasing numbers of community services are being devolved to this level. Pressures towards greater accountability and demonstration of competitiveness, stemming from the implementation of National Competition Policy have led to attempts to better measure community development activities. In this paper we report on research conducted among management, elected members and community workers at five Western Australian Local Government Authorities which explored the nature and appropriateness of community development measurement. We found workers at all levels of employment struggling, not simply with notions of measurement, but also with fundamental understandings of community development.