Information about Governments

Staff from the Department of Community Services (DoCS) have been making sure that that our leaders, as well as other government staff who are involved in Indigenous governance and leadership, are aware of the IGLDP project.  As a government department, one of our priorities is make sure that our Minister knows what the IGLDP project aims to achieve and the progress it is making.   We have done this by writing memorandums to the Minister, sometimes called ministerial briefs.  The memorandums have been written like small reports, with a section on the background, the current situation, and financial implications of the project. They are confidential.

DoCS staff have also written Legislative Assembly dot point briefs about the project. These were short speaking notes that explained the most important parts of the project and included some background information. They would have been used by the Minister to if she was questioned about the IGLDP project in the legislative assembly.

A summary of the status of the IGLD project and any issues or IGLDP developments is always included in a tracking sheet that accounts for all DoCS projects.  This tracking sheet is reviewed by the senior managers of DoCS and regularly sent to the Minister’s Office.

Our Chief Executive has been kept informed by memorandums that were set out in a very similar way to the Memorandum to the Minister. These memorandums were produced when we had change in Chief Executive or a change in the project – for example when the Stage 2 plan was developed.

We talk about the IGLDP project regularly with other officers from DoCS and from the Department of Local Government and Regions who are based in regional centres such as Nhulunbuy and Alice Springs. Copies of the quarterly reports, Stage 2 Plans and progress reports were sent to these staff.

The work that is being done in the IGLD project has been promoted internally through an article in a DoCS newsletter.

DoCS staffs often discuss the project when we meet with other people or organisations who are working on similar projects, or who are working with the remote community residents participating the IGLDP project.  We have had held meetings with staff of organisations such as the Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory, and shared the Stage 2 plans and the progress reports with them.