Long-term change relies on systems where communities can influence the decisions that affect them. When funding, policy and governance are designed with accountability to communities, power can shift. 

Embedding accountability means sharing responsibility for outcomes and ensuring the people most connected to the work influence how decisions are made. 

Strong accountability structures make trust visible. They show where influence sits, how resources are used and how learning shapes future decisions. 

Reflect on: 

• who the work is accountable to – funders, governing bodies, partners and communities – and which voices carry the most weight 

• how decisions about priorities and resources are communicated, reviewed and adjusted 

• the extent to which funding conditions, policies or agreements allow flexibility, local insight and course correction 

• how feedback moves between communities, funders and partners, and how reciprocal this feels. 

Small step 

Pick one decision-making process, such as funding, governance or program design, and map how decisions and information move through it. 

Notice where authority sits and where it could shift closer to community. Identify one small adjustment – for example, inviting local input earlier, opening decisions to review or co-designing how success is understood. 

Go deeper 

• Sharing the power to make change: A guide to shared decision-making (PLACE, 2025) explores how shared authority grows through relationships, collaborative governance and commissioning. It includes practical stages and examples for moving decision-making closer to community. 

• Co-Governance – Working Better Together (ANZSOG, 2025) outlines how shared decision-making can hold accountability, trust and authority across government and community partners. 

• Making government finances make sense for communities (Flanagan and Miller-Dawkins, 2025) examines how limited access to budget and spending information weakens accountability. The policy paper highlights participatory budgeting and community-led commissioning as practical ways to shift decision-making closer to community. 

• 12 elements of place-based change (PLACE, 2025) provides a framework for shared responsibility and transparency. The accountability elements show how decision-making closer to community can work in practice. 

• Creating jobs in your community – Remote Jobs and Economic Development program conversation guide (National Indigenous Australians Agency) shows how communities and employers shape local jobs together through shared discussion of local priorities and needs.