Abstract

An estimated 30% of the Australian farming community is currently participating in the on‐ground work of more than 1,900 landcare groups. The landcare program is grounded in the community participation approach to rural development and has renewed optimism about reversing land and water degradation in rural Australia. Until recently, landcare groups had not participated in any real sense in landcare policy development, and it is in this context that we discuss recent experience in the state of Victoria where more than 130 community representatives contributed to the development of nine regional landcare plans. These plans will form the basis of Victoria's response to the commonwealth landcare initiative. Indeed, much of the forthcoming legislation for integrated catchment management in Victoria is based on the regional landcare action plan experience. Analysis of participant observation and survey responses revealed a generally positive view of agency/community relationships, that landcare groups were adequately represented in RLAP, and that community representatives perceived they had an important impact on planning processes and outcomes. However, survey analysis revealed inadequate representation of key stakeholders and that planning outcomes were likely to entrench inequities in stakeholder representation. There was evidence that important elements of the participation process had been inadequately prescribed. This research also provided evidence of the benefits of adopting a community‐as‐decision‐maker model of community participation and the important role of regional contexts in contributing to major differences in public participation processes and outcomes.