Reconfiguring trust in collaborative governance: Co‐production in Victoria's multicultural communities

This paper examines the role of trust as an element of effective co‐production in collaborative governance, with particular focus on the reciprocal nature of trust. Co‐production offers a way for governments to develop more effective policies through actively engaging stakeholders by connecting institutional goals with lived experience. However, neither developing trust nor engaging in co‐production is a straightforward process. Governments and communities can face numerous obstacles to co‐producing policies and programmes. These include power imbalances, citizen and government scepticism, and historical and contemporary tensions that can undermine co‐production efforts. Trust is reciprocal, so if communities are to trust government, government must also establish and demonstrate trust in communities to make co‐production work. We draw on research conducted between 2021 and 2023 in Victoria, Australia, that examined reciprocal government–community trust relationships in developing resilience to social harms to argue that trust is not only fundamental for co‐production but also requires ongoing effort and attention throughout the co‐production process. Our data suggest that three key themes are relevant in building trust as part of the co‐production process: (1) Balance of power and control over programme design and funding: whether governments are willing to share power and include communities in decision‐making around programme design and funding; (2) Community diversity, representation, and cultural awareness: whether governments are able to establish representative engagement and are willing to become familiar with and account for community diversity; and (3) Investment in trust building: whether governments are willing to invest both time and resources to build and maintain trust‐building activities. Based on our data, we argue that deliberate trust‐building behaviours on the part of government, such as power sharing, transparency, building familiarity, and demonstrating cross‐cultural awareness and genuine recognition of community contributions, can facilitate trust and help establish meaningful and effective co‐production processes.

Points for practitioners

Reciprocal trust between government and communities is an important yet overlooked element of government–community co‐production. Acknowledging the role of trust and examining mechanisms for, or barriers to, building trust can support sustainable co‐design and co‐production processes.