Plain language principles at the heart of Blacktown City Council

We’re celebrating a 13-year partnership with Blacktown City Council, who have embedded accessible communication across the organisation. Before working with us, council faced challenges common in large government organisations, such as delays caused by unclear reporting and the need to communicate clearly with diverse audiences. Our tailored workshops, structured templates and ongoing advice resulted in fairer access to services, improved operational efficiency, stronger governance and greater community trust.

The client

Blacktown City Council is one of Australia’s fastest growing and most diverse local government areas. It’s home to around 450,000 residents (set to grow to 600,000 residents over the next 25 years). Residents speak more than 180 languages.

The challenge

Council faces challenges communicating with the community as well as internally. The diversity of the area means that clear and accessible communication is essential for residents to effectively:

• navigate services
• participate in community consultation processes
• engage with local initiatives and decision-making.

‘Blacktown City councillors represent an incredibly diverse cross-section of the community. Offering information in clear, simple formats across multiple channels is essential for good governance and public trust,’ said Kerry Robinson OAM, council CEO.

‘A key priority for us is a focus on informing and consulting residents, particularly on major project proposals and community initiatives, and ensuring there are clear, practical avenues for people to provide feedback and have their voices heard.’

Blacktown City Council has 15 elected councillors, supported by over 2,000 administrative staff. Before adopting an organisation-wide plain language approach, council faced communication challenges common in large government organisations. This included inconsistent writing styles, complex planning and strategy documents, and duplication of effort or delays caused by unclear reporting.

The solution

We worked closely with council stakeholders to ensure a unified communication framework across all 5 directorates through tailored workshops, structured templates and ongoing advice.

Council has embedded the plain language principles developed through this partnership in a wide range of documents, including:

• resident mail-outs and mayoral newsletters
• community project updates
• formal notices and letters
• website and social media content
• staff communications
• internal reports.

The outcome

Since adopting the approach, council has reported fewer complaints, improved document turnaround times and clearer information to support decision-making for councillors. Our partnership has also resulted in:

• fairer access to services, with clearer community communications
• improved operational efficiency, reducing rework and delays
• stronger governance, with more consistent and accessible reporting
• greater community trust, driven by clarity and transparency.

‘Our partnership with Plain English Foundation has helped us achieve [clear, practical avenues for feedback] consistently for more than a decade. We have embedded clear communication as a core capability across the entire organisation, shaping how complex material is transformed into clearly written information, and shared with the community.’

‘[Working with the Foundation] has significantly improved community consultation processes and the flow of information with stakeholders,’ continued Mr Robinson.

As councils across Australia respond to population growth, rising service demand and increasing complexity, this case study shows how clear communication is critical to inclusion, operational efficiency and community engagement.

‘Blacktown City Council’s strides in community engagement show that clarity is a hallmark of good governance,’ said Yusuf Pingar, our General Manager.

‘We are proud to serve as a trusted partner, building on our partnership over the last 13 years, to help make communication clear, accessible and impactful.’

The next steps

Are you committed to embedding accessible communication too? Contact us for expert advice, plain language training and edits that transform your writing at work into writing that works.

Read Primary Comms Group’s media release about our ongoing partnership with Blacktown City Council.