Thank you to everyone who helped develop the Communications Strategy

Council will be asked to adopt the final proposed Communications Strategy at their meeting this Monday 1 September. To view the meeting agenda and papers and to request to speak about the Strategy, go to Council's website.

Community engagement

Stage 2 engagement

From 8 May - 8 June 2025, 42 people provided feedback on the draft Communications Strategy through an online survey, intercept surveys at Bell Street Mall, Heidelberg West and correspondence directly to the project team.

Take a look below at some of the other things we heard, or do a deeper dive by reading the Feedback Summary Report.

What we heard

  • Feedback on the Strategy

    Support for the Strategy was high, with 91% of participants supporting or somewhat supporting the Strategy's overall direction.

  • Communication with underrepresented groups

    There was strong support for improving how Council communicates with underrepresented groups, especially younger people and multicultural communities.

  • Digital and print balance

    There was broad support for getting a better digital/print communication balance. With some participants supporting moving more content online to reduce printing cost but also wanting to keep print as an option.

Proposed changes

Proposed changes to the Strategy in response to community feedback include:

Section of StrategyChanges proposed
Outcomes
  • Updated the name of the ‘proud outcome to ‘pride’.
  • Made more specific mention of the audiences with which to improve our communication.
Strategic alignment
  • Updated References to ‘Council Plan’ to ‘Banyule Plan’ and updated diagrams.
  • Added more emphasis to the Strategy supporting Theme 1 of the Banyule Plan.
Legislative compliance
  • Made small updates to phrasing and word choice.
Key Performance Indicators and Reporting
  • Added specific measures for each KPI.
  • Changed ‘Councillor Awareness’ KPI wording to ‘Awareness of Councillors’ for clarity.
Actions
  • Rephrased Action 13 to say ‘support’ behaviour change rather than ‘drive’ behaviour change.
  • Updated Action 14 to include prioritising video content and tackling mis/disinformation on social media.
  • Updated Action 21 to focus on sharing Council decisions, as performance reporting is now covered in the Banyule Plan 2025–2029.
  • Added Action 17 to cut campaign costs by using grouped messaging, where practical. This approach combines related Council initiatives, like capital works, environmental programs, and health and wellbeing, into shared messaging, reducing the need for separate campaigns and designs.

Other feedback

Overall, community feedback reflected the issues that the Strategy plans to improve, including website usability, trust and transparency of messages, incorporating community into our communications, and simplifying messaging and supported the direction or actions the Strategy proposes to take.

Background

What is communications?

Good communication helps everyone stay informed about what's happening, how we access services, how to have a say, and how Council is working for you.

When we talk about communications, we mean the way Council shares information with the community. This includes:

  • Publications like the Banyule Banner and News From Our Neighbourhood delivered to your letterbox.
  • Social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
  • Emails, text messages and webpages
  • Signs and posters around our suburbs
  • Information about events, services, decisions and construction projects.

The Communications Strategy

The draft Communications Strategy 2025–2029 guides plans to improve reach, responsiveness and impact of our communications. It includes actions to improve our communications and make Council’s messaging clearer, more inclusive and easier to access.

The Strategy also aims to help our community feel more connected, informed and represented about the parts of Council that matter most to them and will help us to:

  • make sure our communications provide accurate, timely and complete information
  • raise awareness and deepen understanding of Council's services, initiatives and decisions
  • build trust and strengthen connection.

The Strategy aligns with a Council Plan strategy to 'Improve the reach, transparency, impact and responsiveness of our communications', and is listed as an action in the Council Plan 2021 – 2025 Year 4 Annual Action Plan (Table 6, Action 22, p.29).

2024 Communications Survey

What we've heard

In mid-2024 we asked our community what they thought of our communications. We received over 550 responses to the survey, both online and in-person.

We've used this feedback to develop the draft Communications Strategy, which includes 40 actions to improve the reach, responsiveness and impact of our communications.

What we heard

  • Council's communication

    Survey respondents rated Council communications as 'good' (6.7/10), up from 5% in 2020.

  • Publications and website

    Our community told us they 'really liked' the Banyule Banner, News From Our Neighbourhood and Council’s website.

  • Communications methods

    People said they feel that we’re mostly using the right communication methods, with good alignment between how people want to receive information and the way Council shares it.

  • Digital communications

    Amongst the community there’s strong usage of Council’s website and digital forms.

  • eNewsletter and socials

    Our eNewsletter subscriber base and social media engagement is growing – although social media followers have slowed.

Room to improve

Your survey responses also told us where we can get better. We heard that:

  • young and middle-aged adults and multi-lingual households are less satisfied and engaged with Council’s communications
  • our community wants to hear more about local events and activities, roadworks and Council infrastructure projects
  • people would like more personalised and on-demand communications, such as emails or SMS notifications
  • some people feel Council could use simpler messaging and plain language.