Consultation Data and the Community's Veto
A local council is drafting a Reconciliation Action Plan. It runs a consultation with 60 residents, of whom 9 identify as Aboriginal. The council's draft report states that 'the Aboriginal community supports the plan' because 7 of the 9 Aboriginal attendees endorsed it. A local Aboriginal land council, which represents a larger population, has written to the council saying it was not consulted and does not support the plan's wording on cultural heritage. The council's deadline is in three weeks. A councillor argues the consultation was open to everyone and the land council 'should have shown up'. The draft plan includes a section on a local massacre site that the land council says should not be named publicly.
1. Evaluate the council's claim that 'the Aboriginal community supports the plan'. Identify the methodological and ethical problems.
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The claim is not supportable.
Methodological problems:
- 9 Aboriginal attendees out of 60 is a self-selected sample, not a representative one. It cannot stand for 'the Aboriginal community'.
- 7 of 9 is a small number; the two dissenters are erased by the wording.
- Attendance at an open meeting is not the same as consultation with the recognised body. The land council is the relevant representative structure and was not consulted.
- There is no record of how the meeting was advertised or whether barriers (time, venue, transport, trust) excluded people.
Ethical problems:
- Claiming community support when a representative body objects misrepresents the community to the wider public.
- Publishing a massacre site against the land council's wishes risks harm and may breach cultural protocols.
- The councillor's 'should have shown up' argument shifts responsibility onto the community and ignores that proper consultation is the council's obligation.
Recommendation: withdraw the claim, consult the land council directly, and remove or rewrite the heritage section.
2. The deadline is three weeks away. Recommend a course of action that is both feasible and respectful.
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- Correct the record immediately. Issue a statement that the draft overstated support and that consultation with the land council is ongoing.
- Seek a meeting with the land council within the week, at a time and place they choose, with a clear agenda and a draft they can mark up.
- Remove the named massacre site from the public draft pending the land council's direction; replace with general language about heritage protection.
- Request a short extension from the council's governance committee. If refused, adopt the plan with the contested section deferred, not forced through.
- Document the process so future RAPs build in representative consultation from the start.
Judgement: meeting the deadline is less important than not publishing a false claim or culturally harmful content. A deferred section is a better outcome than a contested plan.