Creating a consultation on Have Your Say

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The Have Your Say portal provides access to information about public consultations being run by the NSW Government. As per the Premier’s Memorandum, all NSW Government departments and agencies are required to list any public consultation that they are conducting on the Have Your Say portal. 



Creating a Have Your Say consultation

Do

  • Follow the nsw.gov.au editorial style guide. This includes the time, date and address format.
  • Use high-quality, natural looking images that reflect the consultation.
  • Include up-to-date contact information for the public if they need to contact the consultation team.
  • Provide consultation methods for the public to provide their feedback.

Don't

  • Use images that have graphics and text in them. This includes aerial maps, document covers, icons and logos.
  • Don’t use complex jargon, including legalese. Write in plain English.


How to create a Have Your Say consultation

  1. Select Content > Add content > Consultation. The ‘Add Consultation’ screen will open.
  2. In the Content tab:

Step 1: Add the consultation title

  • Enter the consultation title, with a maximum of 40 characters.
  • This title will be part of your unique URL. Avoid using special characters such as commas, dashes, exclamation marks, parentheses or periods. Use only letters.
  • The title will be shown at the top of your consultation page and with your listing on the Have Your Say page.

Step 2: Write the consultation summary

  • Provide a summary of the consultation, up to 160 characters.
  • Include which agency is running the consultation and a short description. For example, ‘The Department of Customer Service is seeking feedback on the Digital ID strategy’.

Step 3: Select the consultation topic

Use the drop-down menu to select a topic that relates to your consultation.
Topics to select from include:

  • Community Services
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Infrastructure
  • Planning
  • Policy
  • Regulation
  • Technology
  • Emergencies
  • Police and Justice
  • Transport.

 

Step 4: What’s this about

1: What’s this about

In this section, provide detailed information about the consultation, including:

  • background information
  • reasons for the consultation
  • benefit to the public
  • overview of the consultation process.

 

 

2: Add an image

Add an image that represents the consultation. Ensure that the image is 760x440px and follows the nsw.gov.au image guidelines.

To upload the image you can follow the How to upload an image to the CMS guide but choose Consultation image instead of Image in the 'Upload the photo’ section.

3: Upload supporting documents

Upload any supporting documents for the consultation. Accepted file types are PDF, DOC and DOCX with a maximum file size of 5MB per file. When uploading a file, follow our file naming guidelines.

4: Select affected regions

Choose the region or regions in NSW that will be affected by your consultation. If it covers the entire state, select 'Statewide Consultation'. If your consultation is for a specific location – for example a building upgrade, also provide the address details.

 

 

Step 5: Have your say

1. Detail the consultation process

Clearly explain the consultation process in the Have Your Say section. Include the following:

  • The end date of the consultation period. This should be formatted as ‘Have your say by day, date,’ for example ‘Have your say by Sunday 14 July 2024’. This sentence should be in bold as it’s important.
  • The number and types of consultation methods available. This should be added to the bottom of this section and follow this format: You can provide feedback in 2 ways'. This text will display above the ‘Consultation methods’ section.
  • Any other relevant information the public needs to know. For example, will all submissions be made public.

 

2: Add consultation methods

Select ‘Add method’ and then choose ‘Consultation Method’ to specify the various methods being used for the consultation.

Consultation methods to select from include:

  • Online consultation
  • Survey
  • Postal submission
  • Information submission
  • Mailout
  • Exhibition
  • Town Hall
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Community meeting
  • Webinar consultation.




Step 6: Contact information

In this section, provide agency contact details for people who have questions about the consultation.

1: Agency contact name

Add in the name of the person or team responsible for running the consultation. For privacy concerns, you can use something generic such as ‘Project team’.

2: Contact phone

Provide a phone number for public enquiries. If a phone number isn’t available, enter ‘n/a’.

3: Contact email address

Enter the email address for the person or team overseeing the consultation.

4: Agency website

Include the URL to the agency conducting the consultation.

5: Consultation website

Include the URL for the consultation page on the agency website.



Step 7: Complete the Tags tab information

 

1: Select the Tags tab

Navigate to the Tags tab in the consultation form.

2: Tag the agency

Choose the agency associated with your consultation from the dropdown list.

3: Choose the target audience

Select the appropriate audience for your consultation. Options include:

  • Business
  • Citizen
  • Public servants
  • Visitors
  • All.

4: Select relevant topics

Select topics that best match your consultation. For example:

  • If the consultation is about a new construction project, select ‘Infrastructure’.
  • If the consultation is about a health policy review, select ‘Health’.
  • You must select at least 1 of the 20 main Topic tags, that is relevant to your content. The list of main topics can be found on the homepage.
  • Tags are only used to group related content together and do not play a part in SEO.

Step 8: Save your consultation

Once you have completed all the steps, select ‘Save’.

Step 9: Editing your consultation before submitting

Follow these steps if you need to edit your consultation before submitting it for review.

  1. Select Content and then enter the name of your consultation title and click Filter to find your consultation. Click on your consultation to edit it.
  2. On your consultation page select Draft in the top right workbench menu.



  3. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Edit draft’.


  4. Once you’ve made your edits, select Save.

Step 10: Submitting your consultation for review

Before your consultation can be published it must be submitted for review by the NSW Digital Channels team.

To submit your consultation for review:

  1. Select draft from the top right of your workbench.
  2. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Needs review’.
  3. The status will now change from ‘Draft’ to ‘Needs review’.

Your consultation has now been submitted for inclusion on the Have Your Say portal. You will be advised if further details are required.

The team will review your consultation within 2 working days.

Have Your Say support

If you have any questions regarding Have Your Say, submit a request via the webform for further assistance.

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