Improving the quality of public consultation for complex evidence-based decisions
A confidential Australian Government agency engaged Heartward Strategic to review questionnaires and supporting materials used in multiple rounds of public consultation for a nationally significant consultation process. The consultation needed to gather meaningful input from a broad spread of public stakeholders, while producing information that could be used efficiently and responsibly in decision-making.
“Practical, evidence-based recommendations to make public consultation clearer, more inclusive and easier to translate into decision-ready outputs.”
Heartward conducted a targeted review combining document analysis and interviews with staff and stakeholders involved in consultation design, delivery, analysis and reporting. The review examined how well the consultation question sets and supporting materials elicited the intended information, where respondents were likely to misunderstand consultation aims, questions or scope, and how the consultation workflow could be simplified without weakening the quality of evidence gathered.
The review identified opportunities to shorten and simplify submission collection mechanisms, use clearer plain-language wording, reduce duplication, improve branching and routing, streamline accessibility approaches, strengthen data extraction and analysis processes, and support staff wellbeing when handling sensitive consultation input.
The final guidance gave the client practical templates, questionnaire examples and an implementation checklist to support future consultation rounds. Overall, the work assisted the government agency to ensure a more accessible and analysis-ready consultation model, helping public input better inform complex decisions while reducing unnecessary burden on those providing consultation input and internal staff delivering the consultation.