Key Highlights:
- Analysis time reduced from days to hours By removing the burden of manual data handling, the team could focus on strategic priorities and deliver faster insights.
- More clarity across complex data Tags, sources, and evolving codebooks helped GORCAPA trace feedback accurately and foster shared understanding.
- Less burnout, more impact Reduced pressure helped the team stay focused and meet deadlines with confidence and care.
Faced with overlapping engagement periods for two major capital works projects, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) needed a faster, more efficient way to manage community feedback. Their existing process, of manually collecting and analysing data from multiple sources, was time-consuming and unsustainable under tight deadlines.
To support their team and maintain momentum, GORCAPA adopted Communiti Analysis, powered by Communiti Labs. What followed was a shift in how they worked: streamlined analysis, clearer insights, and more breathing room during one of their busiest engagement periods.
About Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority
Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) is a Victorian State Government entity responsible for managing public land along the Great Ocean Road’s coast and parks.
Established in 2020 under the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act, GORCAPA plays a vital role in protecting, conserving, and enhancing one of Australia’s most iconic landscapes, ensuring it remains accessible and enjoyable for generations to come.
We spoke with Brigid Issac, Interim Director of Community, Public Affairs and Visitor Economy at GORCAPA, about how her team adopted Communiti Analysis to support community engagement across two major capital works projects.
At Capacity: When Engagement Outpaces the Process
GORCAPA’s engagement team was juggling two high-profile projects with overlapping consultation periods. Their previous process involved exporting reports from their online engagement platform, manually compiling handwritten notes from workshops, meetings, and drop-ins, and collecting emails, submissions, and phone call records. All of this data was then transferred into tools such as Miro or Excel to help identify specific key themes.
This approach was not only time-consuming but also emotionally draining, especially at the tail end of engagement periods when staff were already stretched. The team spent countless hours ensuring every piece of feedback was captured and collated, followed by even more time reviewing the data to extract meaningful insights.
“If we did nothing at this point,” Brigid reflected, “we were looking to bring in staff from other projects (causing delays), potentially overworking staff on the major capital works projects, and risking reputational damage within the community and politically.”
From Manual to Meaningful: GORCAPA’s New Approach to Engagement Analysis
To ease the strain of manual data collation and reduce the emotional toll on staff, GORCAPA adopted Communiti Analysis, an AI reporting and analytics platform powered by Communiti Labs, during one of their most intense engagement windows.
The decision was driven by the platform’s flexibility, its ability to grow in functionality, and the quality of expertise and customer service offered by Communiti Labs. Brigid highlighted:
“The commitment to continuous improvement was really appreciated and respected.”
However, what set the platform apart wasn’t just its flexibility or responsive support, but its ability to bring structure and clarity to complex qualitative data. Features such as sources, tags, and codebooks proved critical to their outcomes. It allowed the team to:
- Confidently trace insights back to original contributions.
- Apply consistent tags across diverse datasets.
- Build shared understanding through evolving codebooks that reflected real-time learning.
Communiti Labs didn’t just deliver a tool, it provided hands-on training and strategic support, helping GORCAPA integrate the platform quickly and effectively for their two capital works projects. Their support came at a critical time, enabling the engagement team to maintain momentum and meet deadlines without compromising the integrity of their analysis.
From Days to Hours: Immediate and Impactful
By using Communiti Analysis, the shift was immediate and impactful. What previously took GORCAPA two to three full workdays was now reduced to just a few hours, including time spent in team meetings.
The time savings were significant for GORCAPA, allowing staff to redirect their energy toward other strategic priorities. Project meetings became more focused, with discussions centred on key themes and solution-driven thinking.
GORCAPA also delivered a community snapshot report within two weeks, a turnaround that was well received and appreciated by the community. Most importantly, the team experienced a noticeable reduction in stress, as Brigid noted:
“You would see my team able to take a breath in an incredibly busy, intense, and stressful period of engagement.”
Connecting with the Community by Design
Looking ahead, GORCAPA is exploring how to embed Communiti Analysis earlier in their engagement design. They’re considering how to structure future engagements with the platform in mind from the outset, ensuring analysis support is built in from the beginning.
The team plans to allocate more time to explore the full feature set of the platform, such as deeper use of Communiti Analysis’s reporting function, to unlock additional efficiencies and insights and meet both internal and community needs.
By rethinking their engagement analysis, GORCAPA is building a more sustainable, strategic, and human-centred approach to better connect with their community.