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Formal Meetings
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• Decide whether the meeting needs to be
formal or informal (be guided by advice from
the community; community contact; or gobetween as to which is best);
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• Date and time;
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• Agenda;
• Who will be attending; and
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• Venue - if indoors (and if applicable) be
aware of the different levels of comfort zones
for participants e.g. ventilation; heating;
room layout; atmosphere etc.;
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• Send any information out beforehand.
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• If possible use the local community hall or
resource centre; or
• If outside - possibly under a tree or near a
river; be guided by your networks and/or
Aboriginal contacts.
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(NB Be aware of possible costs e.g. paying for the hire of
thehall;refreshmentsetc.)
• Be punctual; and
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• Take minutes, which should include:
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• purpose of meeting;
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Telephone;
Letter; and/or
Personal introduction.
• time and place of meeting;
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• who attended; and
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(NBWithremotecommunities,telephonecontactsare
preferredtoletter,andpersonalvisitsarepreferredto
telephone.)
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• Introduce yourself prior to setting up a
meeting by:
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When you plan a formal meeting, consider the
following:
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Planning the meeting
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You will need to identify those groups in the
community who are spreading information and
whose suggested solutions are generally
accepted. Meeting agendas are more profitably
discussed with these groups.
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Find out whether other government agencies
have established networks (e.g. Department of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and
Development, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission, Centrelink; Department
of Education Training and Youth Affairs or
other state agencies). You may be able to tap
into existing processes.
• Explain why the meeting was initiated:
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It is vital you establish and then maintain
credibility in the community, or you must have
contacts in the community who can give you
guidance on how to go about organising the
meeting without offending important people
and community leaders.
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It is unwise to organise a formal meeting if you
are not known by anyone in the community.
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4.2
• what was decided.
Pr o t o c o l s f o r Co n s u l t a t i o n a n d Ne g o t i a t i o n w i t h Ab o r i g i n a l Pe o p l e
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