Project Evaluation

• According to the research, all participants indicated at least some engagement with their local community (eg aware of pressing issues and general developments)
• 30% of responders indicates that they had ‘Excellent or Good’ knowledge of the local council elections. This increased to over 70% when ‘Average’ knowledge was included in the data set.
• The new council election website saw 111,576 page views across 53,812 users during the lifespan of the campaign.

Objective 2: Increase in voter participation (measured by the total number of votes)

• The 2022 local government periodic elections had a successful outcome in terms of voter engagement. The voters roll increased from 1,208,858 in 2018 to 1,243,661 in 2022.
• Participation was also increased above the 2018 figure of 389,215 ballots received (32.94%), having received 429,617 ballots (34.54%).
• For under-represented groups, the campaign performed well with women, CALD communities and young people. Of those who had seen the LGA campaign, 62% voted in the local council elections (compared to the 56% who hadn’t seen it).

Objective 3: Increase in nominations from under-represented groups.

• There was a slight decrease in nominations. For the 2022 elections we had 1,258 candidates contesting the 184 elections, slightly lower than the 1,474 candidates at the 2018 elections.
• Data has revealed that of the candidates for nomination: o37% were female (up 4% on 2018) o3.3% were under 25 (up 0.4% on 2018) o8.2% identified as having a disability o17.1% were born outside Australia o1.5% were First Nation Australians o14.6% speak English as a second language
• There have been a number of successes from under-represented groups including the election of Angela Schiller (from the LGA Disability and Inclusion Panel) who has become South Australia's first councillor who is blind.

Objective 4: Maintaining perception that councils care about local communities (at 80%).

• The campaign maintained perception that councils care about local communities, with 81% aligned with the statement (Neutral to Strongly Agree sentiment analysis).
• From the research, 25% of respondents indicated having seen at least one version of the LGA advertising (Square Holes).
• Those who had seen the LGA campaign indicated higher agreement across all measures of council sentiment. They were also more likely to have taken at least one action in the 2022 local council election process.
• Feedback from council staff Perception among council employees was positive. Satisfaction rates sat above 80% for neutral to positive sentiment (according to a survey of council staff following the election) for nearly all metrics of measurement including Election resources, Informational Workshops, and the Guide to Supporting Inclusive representation (a 2.8 weighted average). Feedback highlighted the need to run the campaign earlier, as well as provide a more unified front throughout the campaign, rather than switching artwork and design throughout.