Partners: the right decision-makers at the table with a commitment to contribute
Effective partnerships have the right decision-makers at the table with a commitment to contribute time and resources.
Partnerships are most effective when they offer a range of ways for people to be included. A clear governance structure establishes how people can be involved and how decisions will be made.
The partnership steering committee can be limited to those organisations that have ‘levers’ for the issue, while other organisations can be involved through working groups or communication channels.
Partners need to be clear about their roles and responsibilities. This helps them know what they need to do for the partnership and how partnership responsibilities fit with those of their organisations.
Once established, roles and responsibilities should be documented in a Partnership Agreement, Memorandom of Understanding (MOU) or Terms of Reference (TOR) document – see Process for more details.
The people involved in the partnership need to have:
Tools and Resources
Stakeholder and community engagement
Developed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Shared Facility Partnerships provides advice on stakeholder and community engagement. In addition, you can also access the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s Effective Engagement Kit.
Governance structure
Shared Facility Partnerships developed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development also provides advice on governance. Some examples of the governance structures of DPCD partnerships are included below:
Roles and responsibilities
Developed by the Improvement Service, considers some of the key roles and responsibilities needed
Working Effectively Across Boundaries: Skills, roles and responsibilities in a partners in partnership working. Conflict of Interest guidelines
Conflict of Interest Guidelines (Word 227 kb) developed for the Transport Connections partnerships are particularly useful when commercial interests are involved.
The Conflict of Interest Policy Framework developed for the Victorian Public Sector may also provide a model for your organisation.
New members kit
It may be a good idea to prepare a new members kit for your partnership. Consider including policy documents, partnership strategy and planning documents, local community data and contact lists.
Working through issues
Bringing people together for the partnership may involve working through difficult issues. The VicHealth
Go to Purpose.
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