What is Local Decision Making?
Local Decision Making is a framework that represents a fundamental and positive change in the relationship between government and Aboriginal communities in NSW.
Underpinned by the principle of self-determination, Local Decision Making aims to ensure that Aboriginal communities have a genuine voice in determining what and how services are delivered to their communities.
NSW government agencies collaborate with Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies to support community priorities, needs and aspirations around service delivery.
Local Decision Making is an OCHRE initiative supported by Aboriginal Affairs NSW.
For additional information and resources about Local Decision Making, including policies and overviews, please see our General LDM Resources page.
Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies
Aboriginal Alliances (sometimes known as Assemblies) are regional Aboriginal governance bodies with their own structures and priorities. They promote community aspirations through Local Decision Making.
Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies advocate and negotiate on behalf of their local Aboriginal communities with the NSW Government.
They negotiate about which services are delivered in their communities and how services are designed and implemented.
Who are the Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies in NSW?
There are eight Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies in NSW.
These include:
- Barang Regional Alliance (Central Coast)
- Illawarra Regional Aboriginal Alliance Corporation (Illawarra)
- La Perouse Aboriginal Community Alliance (La Perouse)
- Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (Far Western NSW)
- North Coast Aboriginal Development Alliance (North Coast)
- Riverina-Murray Regional Alliance (Riverina Murray)
- Three Rivers Regional Assembly (Central West)
- Western Sydney Aboriginal Regional Alliance (Western Sydney)
Each Aboriginal Alliance/Assembly serves specific communities within its boundary.
Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies can be made up of a range of local and regional Aboriginal organisations and community working parties that come together to improve outcomes for their communities.
How do Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies and governments work together?
These are some of the ways they work together:
- Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies have direct communication with government leaders through Local Decision Making, which is a framework that enables government and communities to work together to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people.
- Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies and NSW Government agencies negotiate outcomes and partnership agreements (Accords) through the Local Decision Making framework, based on community priorities.
- The aspirations and needs of each Aboriginal Alliance/Assembly are different based on their community’s priorities. Alliances/Assemblies progress in Local Decision Making, they receive a greater level of decision-making power and accountability as the government learns to accommodate their particular circumstances.
Partnership Agreements (Accords)
The NSW Government and Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies can enter into a negotiated decision-making process and form a partnership agreement (sometimes called an Accord). These agreements commit the NSW Government and the Aboriginal Alliance/Assembly to work together on improving outcomes for Aboriginal communities.
What do Partnership Agreements include?
Partnership Agreements cover things like:
- How the parties will work together (principles)
- What the parties want to achieve (goals)
- How long it will take (timeframe)
- Who will do what (roles) and
- How they'll know they're on the right track (success measures).
How can I learn more about Partnership Agreements?
To learn more about Agreements see:
NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Regional Alliances (NCARA)
The NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Regional Alliances (NCARA) is made up of representatives from each Aboriginal Alliance/Assembly. Learn more about NCARA.
Aboriginal Affairs NSW resources
Premiers Memorandum
In March 2015, the Hon Mike Baird, MP, then NSW Premier, issues a Premiers Memorandum which sets out the aim of Local Decision Making and outlines the roles and responsibilities of NSW Government agencies in supporting it.
It directs NSW Government agencies to work respectfully, constructively and cooperatively with Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies, to develop agreements. Agencies must adhere to the principles of Local Decision Making, must negotiate openly and in good faith, and must share service provision and indicator data with Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies.
Good Governance Guidelines
The OCHRE Good Governance Guidelines were developed to assist the NSW Government and Regional Alliances to work together to strengthen governance and capacity within both Aboriginal communities and the public sector.
The Guidelines explain the steps that both Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies and the NSW Government need to take to progress through Local Decision Making.
The Guidelines also outline good governance principles and assessments required for Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies and the NSW Government to participate in Local Decision Making.
The Guidelines are an evolving document and will continue to be updated as Local Decision Making progresses.
View the Good Governance Guidelines.
Other resources:
Review of Local Decision Making
The Local Decision Making initiative under OCHRE, is in its tenth year of working with Aboriginal communities across NSW (2024). With this milestone in mind, Aboriginal Affairs NSW took the opportunity to independently review the initiative. The Review looked at the strengths of the Program and the opportunities for improving its capacity to meet its objectives and deliver on its potential. The Review also mapped current Aboriginal Affairs policies against the ongoing Closing the Gap priority reforms and targets. The Review will be used to inform actions taken to strengthen and improve the Program.
The Review consisted of two parts, with separate independent consultants engaged to develop the following documents:
Literature Review
This element of the Review looked at published and unpublished literature relevant to Local Decision Making to provide an outline of how the Program can inform, and evolve with, other initiatives and emerging policy settings. This Review was undertaken as part of the process of building a body of evidence to underpin the strengthening of the Local Decision Making Model, and identify opportunities for structural transformation within the Program.
The Literature Review made several recommendations noting that the design of Local Decision Making is strongly aligned with advancing self-determination for Aboriginal communities. Evidence is increasingly pointing to self-determination as key to achieving positive outcomes for Aboriginal communities.
The Review also identified focus areas for strengthening the implementation of the Program, including building capacity of both government and Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies to understand and apply Local Decision Making processes.
Strategic Mapping
The second part of the Review undertook a strategic mapping exercise to demonstrate the alignment of outcomes between OCHRE – especially agreements (Accords) negotiated by Aboriginal Alliances/Assemblies – and the priority reforms and targets under Closing the Gap.
The strategic mapping clearly demonstrates that Local Decision Making Agreements (Accords) closely align with Closing the Gap socio and economic targets and priority reforms. Joint delivery of the outcomes committed to in Agreements under Local Decision Making will support the delivery of Closing the Gap in NSW.
This Review, along with other evaluations of the Local Decision Making Program, validates the approach the initiative has taken to government engagement with Aboriginal communities. Importantly, it makes clear that Local Decision Making complements other work being done by NSW Government under the Closing the Gap priority reforms and socio-economic targets, continuing to transform and strengthen the relationship between the NSW Government and Aboriginal people in NSW.
OCHRE Evaluation, review and strategic mapping of Local Decision Making
To see how well OCHRE initiatives, including Local Decision Making (LDM), are meeting their goals, the NSW Government is funding an independent ten-year OCHRE Evaluation, co-designed with participating Aboriginal communities.
The OCHRE Evaluation shows that LDM is:
- helping community voices to reach government and
- achieving creative solutions to problems.
Government can do more to properly harness the full potential of LDM and support community-led solutions.
The latest report can be found at Preliminary Findings (ANU)
See OCHRE Evaluation Stages 1 & 2 for more resources.
Aboriginal Affairs NSW has also commissioned a Review and Strategic Mapping of Local Decision Making to other policy areas.