Welcome to the Community Participation Framework for the South Western Sydney Area Health Service (SWSAHS).

This document along with the Strategic Direction Statement and the Clinical Strategy Plan guides the way in which SWSAHS will carry out its work in the next 5 years.

The publication of the Community Participation Framework is a significant milestone for SWSAHS. It demonstrates our commitment to community involvement in health service decision-making.

We have made a major investment in establishing processes for engaging with our community and our staff. We have already established a number of ways for members of the community to be involved in developing our services.

As an organisation, we believe that the involvement of community members will improve the decisions we make for the future delivery of health care in South Western Sydney and Wingecarribee. The philosophy of ‘participation’ will underpin everything we do. It means working ‘with’, rather than ‘doing to’, people. This is a very strong message for health professionals, consumers, carers and the community.

This document identifies the formal participation processes that will be supported by SWSAHS. It also provides guidance to health services in undertaking consultation and for the appointment of community representatives. It provides opportunities to see where we are going and ensure the direction we are taking meets the needs of everyone involved.

We acknowledge and thank everyone involved in SWSAHS Community Participation.