Becoming Engagious

Engagious: A new word for a powerful movement in community engagement

In Victoria’s local government sphere, something exciting is happening. When better-practice community engagement becomes more than just a procedure — when it starts to spread naturally, lift participation, build trust and prompt change — we can call it engagious.

That is, “engagious” describes the state where engagement is self-reinforcing: people feel heard, they want to contribute, others see that their voice matters and a positive loop of involvement grows.

Why “engagious” matters

Across Victoria’s 79 local councils, the shift from token consultation to meaningful, inclusive, responsive engagement is underway. Councils are embracing more collaborative approaches: more face-to-face pop-ups, more co-design workshops, more tailored outlets for diverse communities. The outcome? Better decisions, stronger relationships, greater ownership by the community.

This is what engagious looks like. It’s not just doing consultation. It’s creating environments where engagement becomes contagious — where the more people participate, the more engaged others become.

Engagious in action

A strong recent example of this is the work by Merri‑bek City Council in reforming their Community Engagement Policy to better reach older residents from multicultural backgrounds. The Council’s amendment to the policy highlights specific actions: distributing translated information, extending advertising timelines, holding in-person pop-up events in community hubs, and aligning engagement with Seniors Week and other familiar community channels.

This is more than compliance. It’s a signal that the Council is working with community — recognising barriers, tailoring the approach, actively reaching out. As a result, the engagement becomes more inclusive, more visible, and more participatory. That’s engagious in action.

What this means for our local government sector

• Engagement efforts are increasingly no longer just “tick-and-flick” consultation. They are evolving into dynamic programmes that invite and enable real voice. Inclusive input.

• When councils embed purposeful, inclusive processes, they create momentum — not just for one project, but for ongoing participation and community ownership.

• Practitioners, officers and elected members who see engagement as a living culture (rather than a one-off event) help trigger the “engagious” ripple effect: people talk, more people join, more ideas flow, decisions improve.

• The term engagious gives us a handy-to-use shorthand to recognise and promote that upward trajectory in engagement.

A call to action

If you work in local government, in community engagement, in communications or strategy, consider:

• Are your methods creating the conditions for engagement to spread?

• Which groups are still under-represented and how might you tailor new approaches to reach them?

• How can you measure not just outputs (numbers of participants) but outcomes (changes in behaviour, feeling of ownership, improved trust)?

• How can you build that momentum so that engagious becomes part of your council’s identity?

When engagement becomes engagious, the win is shared: the community, the council, and the broader civic system all benefit. By intentionally cultivating that state of contagion for participation, we’ll see stronger decisions, better outcomes and more resilient local communities.