Sydney Your Say: Transforming Digital Community Engagement

The City of Sydney's Technology & Digital Services team transformed civic engagement through the groundbreaking Community Engagement System (CES), addressing critical barriers that prevented meaningful community participation in local decision-making. Serving Australia's largest urban centre with 231,000 residents, 79,000 businesses, and over 600,000 daily workers and visitors, our team recognised that traditional consultation methods created significant obstacles including poor awareness, participation barriers, and trust deficits where citizens felt their input disappeared without visible impact.
Led by Chief Technology & Digital Services Officer Dr. Tom Gao, our multidisciplinary team brought together diverse expertise spanning business analysis, technical development, project management, and community engagement. We adopted a human-centered design philosophy that prioritised genuine community co-design over top-down solutions, conducting extensive qualitative research to understand real user needs rather than assumptions.
The challenge was complex: 79% of residents wanted consolidated online civic engagement, yet existing digital tools created more barriers than solutions. Our response was equally innovative—developing an integrated ecosystem combining custom-built Community Ideas Boards with proven enterprise platforms like Microsoft Dynamics 365 and AI-powered sentiment analysis through Thematic.
Since launching in October 2024, CES has delivered measurable democratic enhancement: 58% of participants report dramatically easier engagement, over 900 individuals and organizations have participated across 75+ consultations, and processing times reduced from weeks to hours. The transparent Community Ideas Board enables real-time public dialogue, while personalized dashboards provide consultation history tracking and status updates.
Our success stems from recognising that effective civic technology requires both technological innovation and fundamental rethinking of how government connects with diverse communities. By developing CES primarily in-house while strategically partnering with offshore resources, we ensured knowledge retention and long-term sustainability while maximizing return on investment.
CES establishes new benchmarks for digital civic engagement, positioning the City of Sydney as a leader in democratic innovation.