The Australian Public Service (APS) Framework for Engagement and Participation provides guidance, principles, and links to interactive tools that support public servants and managers to adopt and improve the participation and engagement of stakeholders and citizens as ways to earn trust and overcome complexity in dealing with society's challenges in the 21st century.

Public servants and managers are invited to subscribe to the principles that underpin this vision and actively use this toolkit to enable stakeholders and citizens to provide inputs and share expertise on public sector initiatives.

The resource provides practical advice and examples about a whole range of possible engagement formats (Share, Consult, Deliberate and Collaborate). It also offers pathways to embed approaches to participation and engagement, which include sharing information and consulting citizens. The resource also helps public officials to venture into innovative and transformative approaches that rely on shared action and adaptive thinking. The instructions given to public officials cover principles, ways to engage and standards of practice that sustain the importance of community expertise to improve policies, programmes and services, and to deliver better outcomes for citizens.

The APS Framework for Engagement and Participation includes supporting tools to ensure that the work with citizens is open, meaningful and supports objectives, including the Guide to the Right Engagement, an interactive decision tool to help public servants choose the right engagement for their problem, and the Open Dialogue Roadmap, which builds the case for deliberative engagements (namely, through a practical method to conduct "Informed Participation").