Community development work is an activity that incorporates both work, as well as development, and this is one of the aspects that this article by John Ward seeks to analyze and understand. At the end of the community development work, the implementers or initiators of the strategy plan to achieve a better society, by improving the quality of life in various areas, such as infrastructure, the environment and hygiene among other areas. However, Ward, in his opinion, insists that there should be willing cooperation from all the involved and affected stakeholders, for community development work to be achieved, and realistic. Caroline Milburn further echoes John Ward’s sentiments, by carrying out an analysis of the implementation of playground development. According to Milburn, the reason this development wasn’t successful is due to the fact that unlike the immediate community, which was willing to cooperate in the development, the government, through the ministry of community services, wasn’t ready and willing to fund the development project (Ward, p. 6).
This raises the question, what makes community development work effective? From Diana Pittock’s perspective, non-violent, submissive and voluntary cooperation is necessary, in order to achieve a communal goal. This is one of the aspects that lacked in between the Australian community and the Ministry of Community Services under Minister John Pierre (1992). Consequently, lack of harmony and full cooperation from all the involved stakeholders led to unachieved community development tasks.
In conclusion, some of the essential points to note in this article include the fact that for community development to be achieved, non-violent and voluntary cooperation is necessary. At the same time, there should be distribution of power, especially, from the government to the community. This is one of the major aspects that various non-governmental organizations in Australia have been advocating for, and minimal milestones have been covered, even in the twenty first century.
References
Ward, J. (1993). “Introduction: Australia Community Development: Ideas, skills and values for the 90s.” Windsor: Community Quarterly, 1993, pp. 5-25.
