Stakeholder Engagement Framework

As CAV is a state-wide regulator covering many sectors and undertaking a range of functions, from service delivery to regulation and enforcement, our stakeholder landscape is quite broad.

This includes sectors relating to consumer products and services, buying and selling motor vehicles, housing (such as renting, buying and selling property), building and renovating, owners corporations and retirement villages. We also manage the licensing and registration of operators in a range of sectors in Victoria.

Given our broad remit, and the fact that our work touches on the lives of many Victorians every day, we routinely engage with many stakeholders in various ways across the following categories:

• Consumers: the end users of goods or services that the laws we administer are aimed to protect. A particular focus is on consumers experiencing vulnerability.
• Businesses and traders: those who provide the goods or services. We educate them about the laws we administer, respond to breaches of those laws, and in some cases, we regulate them through specific licensing or registration regimes.
• Registered entities: Other organisations, groups and bodies we also register and administer laws for, including incorporated associations, co-operatives and fundraisers.
• Advocates, experts and service partners: individuals and groups who represent consumers and business, as well as individuals or groups who have specific expertise, partner with us to provide services or have other interests in the work that we undertake.
• Governments, judicial and other regulatory bodies: include governments at all levels, relevant judicial bodies, and regulatory agencies, such as fellow consumer regulators or specific regulators that play a similar role or complementary role to CAV in relation to particular sectors.
• Media: includes any type of media organisation. Informing the public about our activities is an important part of our role as a regulator as it deters businesses and individuals from engaging in conduct that breaks the law, promotes individual rights and compliance with the law, builds confidence in CAV as a regulator and helps keep us accountable and transparent. CAV engages with media and the public in line with our Policy on publicising of our activities.

While we are a Victorian state regulator, as part of our work to protect Victorians, we regularly engage with interstate stakeholders (such as other Australian Consumer Law regulators) and from time to time will also engage with international stakeholders.

CAV commits to a range of principles that guide our approach to stakeholder engagement. This includes ensuring that our engagement meets the principles below.

• Meaningful and valuable: our engagement is genuine, and we listen and value what you tell us and consider it in our decision-making processes. We proactively engage where we can and have built strong relationships to collaborate with stakeholders where quick action is needed. Our engagement always aims to create value for the community and the government. Within our organisation, our workforce values engagement and we ensure they have the skills and systems to engage effectively.
• Inclusive and informed: our engagement seeks to involve all interested parties and focuses on those who may be impacted the most. We provide clarity about the purpose of our engagement and do our best to ensure we have the right people from CAV engaging with you and that they are prepared. We are respectful in our engagement and ensure that the way we engage is accessible, enables full participation and focuses on the needs of those who we are engaging with. We seek to ensure there are a variety of voices and diversity in views and representation.
• Transparent and accountable: we are clear about why we are engaging and what we are seeking. We tell you how we have incorporated or considered stakeholders’ contributions (or in a regulatory setting, why we may not be in a position to). We review how we do things so we can keep improving, and we report on our engagement activities regularly.

A particular focus of our engagement with our stakeholders will be to address any barriers that may inhibit good engagement with those who may be experiencing vulnerability or that prevent us from carrying out our duties to protect people who may need us the most.

We understand vulnerability might present in a variety of forms and some life events or challenges or personal, cultural or social characteristics may increase the likelihood of vulnerability to challenges in the marketplace.

Vulnerability is dynamic and can be part of someone’s life in different ways. It can be temporary, sporadic or permanent. Someone may not experience vulnerability to marketplace challenges all the time and anyone can be vulnerable at any point in time. It does not define a person. Some examples of vulnerability in the marketplace are outlined in Table 2.

Table 2: Examples of vulnerability

Note: This list aims to provide examples only and is not exhaustive.

CAV considers it vital to support Victorians experiencing vulnerability because they are likely to be disproportionately affected by unfair practices and may have a reduced capacity to make informed decisions or to exercise their rights. To this end, CAV is committed to addressing any barriers and providing the best possible access to its services to support people experiencing vulnerability.

We will do this by targeting strategies to better understand and support individual Victorians and diverse communities, working with regulated business to ensure they are doing what they are required and should do to support all Victorians, and working on ourselves to ensure that we improve our capability, understanding, awareness and operations to better support Victorians who may find it hard to engage with us or have a greater need for our services at any point in time.

Further details about some of our work to support Victorians experiencing vulnerability can be found at Funded services and grants.

All of our staff across the organisation take responsibility for good stakeholder engagement practices.

• Executive and Senior Management: support the implementation of the framework and the application of best practice to CAV’s stakeholder engagement. The Executive oversee our stakeholder engagement activities and ensure that the culture of CAV supports and values effective stakeholder management practices.
• Staff: commit to applying the framework to stakeholder engagement they participate in and use every engagement as an opportunity to build stronger relationships with our stakeholders and the community. They commit to ensuring they take opportunities to learn and develop skills around engagement, cultural safety and working with specific communities and be a part of a culture that values effective stakeholder engagement practices.
• Community and Consumer Engagement Branch: the custodian of the framework and responsible for supporting the Executive to ensure it is being utilised to embed best practice stakeholder engagement within CAV. They provide staff with advice, support, and tools to carry out their responsibilities in relation to stakeholder management. They collect data and feedback and monitor CAV’s stakeholder engagement framework and approach and provide recommendations on improvement opportunities. They are also responsible for ensuring that CAV has a sound approach to engagement with vulnerable community members and groups.

We will invest in our people and systems to support effective engagement. This will include building the capability of our people through training and other activities in
areas such as general stakeholder engagement and customer service skills development, cultural safety, accessibility and inclusion, engaging with priority communities and conflict and relationship management skills development.

CAV will also build capability and consistency in its approach to stakeholder management by implementing internal processes where required and support its people with tools such as guides.