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This paper examines some critical issues and opportunities for democracy and public policy posed by the growth of the global progress measurement movement. From the democratic perspective, these include: citizen progress measurement as a form of democratic re‐engagement; the re‐examination of democracy and the development of new indicators to define and measure a 'healthy' democracy; and the demonstration of clear linkages between healthy regimes, and broader individual and societal wellbeing. In public policy, the global movement challenges two long dominant assumptions: the primacy of continuous economic growth as the key driver of wellbeing; and the 'inevitability of progress'. In their place, it offers a more holistic, integrated and nuanced model that recognises the interdependence of economic, social, cultural, environmental and democratic dimensions for genuine wellbeing, progress and sustainability. The paper reviews work in Australia over the past decade at both local community and national levels as examples of these trends, including the development of citizen‐engaged community planning and neighbourhood renewal schemes in which progress and wellbeing indicators play a central role; the development of state‐wide local progress measurement frameworks as part of a commitment to devolved planning and stronger local democracy; and the evolution of national progress measurement systems. The paper concludes with a proposal for a broad community engaged National Development Index (NDI) for Australia.

In Australia, engaged scholarship oriented towards community development objectives has yet to be recognised in funding regimes as being inherently beneficial in terms of scholarly excellence and university rankings. While the civic role of universities is acknowledged by individual universities, higher education management and at the Federal policy level, they are most often framed as funding problems related to 'community service' rather than as research opportunities which can raise the university's profile by providing the basis for excellent research outputs and community enrichment. Community engagement has become a familiar term in the Australian higher education lexicon in recent years but there is still little institutional infrastructure that directly embodies the principles and sentiment of community engagement evident in current Australian universities. In this paper, the inaugural Director and Research Manager of the University of Queensland's Community Service and Research Centre reflect on their five years leading a Centre that was/has been privileged to enjoy significant institutional support and the lessons learnt in forging into unknown territories. The reflections focus on the Centre's seminal project, the Goodna Service Integration Project.

This article explores what appears to be a major shift in the policies and practices of national and international governments–the increased attention to, and use of, citizen engagement strategies as a basis for developing more participatory forms of governance. The article examines recent citizen engagement initiatives of the Queensland state government which have grappled with these complex political, policy and service concerns. The potential innovation and effectiveness of citizen engagement techniques and approaches are examined. The limitations of technical methodologies based on a traditional consultative framework are highlighted. The article analyses the relationship between these citizen engagement practices and more strategic democratic reforms based on notions of participatory governance.

This book chapter is closed access. ; During the last two decades, there has been a concerted effort to remobilize sport as a vehicle for sustainable social development, especially in the most disadvantaged communities in the world. It is suggested that sport is a versatile and flexible developmental tool commonly associated with having the capacity to contribute to positive social capital in communities. This chapter debates the role of sport as an enabler for development, and the key role it can play in achieving positive social capital. In this sense, the chapter explores the use of sport as a vehicle for development and its potential to bring people together from different economic, social and cultural backgrounds to foster greater social cohesion and cultural tolerance through facilitating the development of social capital. A strong foundation of social capital has many benefits including the development of social networks, the creation of common bonds between disparate groups and the establishment of social norms. The challenge moving forward, however, is to provide greater empirical evidence to support this hypothesis and provide evidence to support significant investment by governments in sport for development initiatives.

AbstractThe arts remain largely absent from place‐based policy, planning and programming in Australia, despite a long history of working in place‐based ways to create positive social change in communities. This systematic review aimed to address this absence, by providing a synthesis of evidence about the role that place‐based arts can play in advancing social equity and addressing social disadvantage. Findings reveal a potential for the arts to create change across individual, community and societal levels, yet empirical evidence to support this potential is weak. Stronger evaluation frameworks that can support capturing the impact of localised place‐based arts initiatives for translation into policy and practice are discussed.