Consultation software gives organisations a structured, digital way to engage with communities and stakeholders — helping them gather feedback, manage relationships, demonstrate transparency and make better decisions. Whether you are running a public consultation, engaging internal staff, or working with complex stakeholder groups, a modern consultation platform supports engagement at scale.
Engagement Hub is the only platform that combines powerful online consultation tools with a fully integrated Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) system and reporting, creating a true end-to-end engagement solution.
What Is Consultation Software?
Consultation software is an online platform designed to help organisations plan, deliver and manage engagement with stakeholders. It allows you to:
- Share information and project updates
- Gather feedback through surveys, forums, maps and tools
- Run public, targeted and private consultations
- Manage stakeholder data securely
- Track engagement history
- Generate meaningful reports
Unlike traditional engagement methods — spreadsheets, disconnected survey tools, email threads and manual reporting — consultation software brings everything together in one place.
Why Consultation Software Matters
Successful consultation is about more than collecting feedback. It’s about building trust, maintaining transparency, reducing risk and strengthening long-term relationships.
With the right consultation software, organisations can:
- Reach larger and more diverse audiences
- Capture feedback 24/7 across multiple channels
- Segment and target stakeholder groups
- Track every interaction in one system
- Demonstrate how feedback influences decisions
- Meet governance, compliance and audit requirements
- Improve participation, insight quality and reporting
Engagement Hub takes this one step further by combining engagement tools and an SRM in a single integrated platform — eliminating data silos and improving engagement outcomes.
Consultation Software Use Cases by Sector
Government
Government agencies rely on consultation to shape policy, infrastructure and community services. Consultation software supports:
- Public policy consultation — gathering community feedback on proposed legislation, strategies or reforms
- Infrastructure and transport projects — sharing plans, collecting map-based feedback and managing submissions
- Community planning and place-making — engaging residents on local development, services and amenities
- Private working groups and committees — enabling better coordination, collaboration and planning
- Transparency and accountability — tracking who was consulted, when, and how their feedback informed outcomes
Built-in SRM enables governments to demonstrate engagement compliance, manage ongoing relationships and report with confidence.
EXAMPLE: The DCCEEW uses Engagement Hub to privately engage climate specialists, the science community and experts. The data is collated within the software and taken to COP each year. This is one of the many uses of Engagement Hub for DCCEEW.
Planning & Development
For planning authorities, developers and infrastructure providers, consultation is both a regulatory requirement and an important part of their project success.
Consultation software enables:
- Public consultation on rezoning, masterplans and developments
- Targeted consultation with affected landowners or neighbours
- Confidential consultations for sensitive projects
- Post-decision engagement to update communities on outcomes and next steps
All engagement activity, submissions, correspondence and stakeholder history are recorded within the SRM for full traceability.
EXAMPLE: Town of Cottesloe: Village Precinct Structure Plan – https://cottesloe.engagementhub.com.au/precinct-structure-plan
A Precinct Structure Plan guides how a place will grow and change into the future. It will set out the future direction for Cottesloe Village: its buildings and land uses, streets and open spaces, environmental performance, access and transport. Community engagement on this strategic development is vital.
Health
Health organisations must balance public transparency with sensitive stakeholder relationships. Consultation software supports:
- Community consultation on health services and facilities
- Patient experience surveys and feedback
- Clinical and professional stakeholder engagement
- Internal staff consultation and change management
- Private committees and groups e.g. GP forums, Patient Feedback Groups
With SRM and reporting, health organisations can securely track feedback, engagement history and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders and regulators.
EXAMPLE: Cancer Australia use Engagement Hub to guide and inform their policies. They use both public and private engagement projects to shape the direction of cancer care nationally.
Energy & Utilities
Energy and utilities providers operate in complex, high-impact environments where stakeholder trust is essential.
Consultation software supports:
- Community engagement for new infrastructure projects
- Targeted consultation with impacted residents and landowners
- Ongoing stakeholder engagement across long-term assets
- Risk mitigation through early and consistent communication
Integrated SRM allows organisations to manage long-term stakeholder relationships and demonstrate responsible engagement over time.
EXAMPLE: Ausgrid has been using Engagement Hub as their customer care portal for many years. Tracking feedback and gaining insights on new projects.
Research
Universities and research institutions use consultation to inform, recruit and collaborate.
Consultation software supports:
- Stakeholder consultation during project design
- Participant recruitment and consent processes
- Community-based research engagement
- Data collection, sentiment analysis and reporting
The SRM ensures participants, contributors and stakeholders are managed ethically, securely and transparently.
EXAMPLE: University of Queensland researchers used Engagement Hub for the Radiant Study –Watch this short video to see how they utilised the consultation software to run their research project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbyE1fMatmQ&t=3s
Education
Educational institutions engage with students, parents, staff and communities across a wide range of initiatives.
Consultation software supports:
- Parent and community consultation
- Student feedback and surveys
- Internal staff engagement and change initiatives
- Strategic planning and campus development projects
Institutions can report on participation, feedback themes and decision outcomes — strengthening trust and governance.
EXAMPLE: Schools, support organisations and tertiary providers use Engagement Hub publicly and privately to engage with the students, staff and wider community.
Environment
Environmental organisations, conservation groups, councils and regulators rely on consultation to balance ecological protection with community needs. Consultation software supports:
- Community consultation on environmental management plans, conservation strategies and restoration projects
- Public feedback on climate initiatives, water management, biodiversity and land use
- Targeted consultation with landowners, traditional owners, community groups and industry stakeholders
- Education and awareness campaigns to inform and involve communities in environmental decision-making
With integrated SRM and reporting, environmental organisations can track stakeholder sentiment, manage long-term relationships and clearly demonstrate transparent, evidence-based decision-making.
EXAMPLE: Verity Nature uses Engagement Hub across their global projects to collate all stakeholder feedback and use the extensive reporting to submit for carbon credit regulators.
Internal and External Consultation from One Platform
Engagement is no longer limited to external audiences. Modern organisations must consult both externally and internally.
- External consultation engages communities, customers, residents and the public
- Internal consultation engages staff, leadership teams, committees and specialist groups
With Engagement Hub, both forms of consultation can be managed from the same platform — ensuring consistent processes, data management and reporting across all engagement activities.
Why Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) Is Essential
Most consultation tools focus only on collecting feedback. Engagement Hub is different — it includes a fully integrated Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) system.
This means organisations can:
- Maintain a complete history of stakeholder interactions
- Track online and offline engagement in one place
- Segment and target stakeholder groups effectively
- Manage contact details securely
- Log meetings, calls, emails and submissions
- Monitor long-term relationship health
SRM turns consultation from a one-off activity into a continuous, strategic engagement program.
The Power of Integrated Reporting
Engagement without reporting limits insight and accountability. Engagement Hub’s 600+ integrated reporting tools enable organisations to:
- Analyse consultation participation and sentiment
- Track trends across projects and stakeholder groups
- Export data for governance, compliance and reporting
- Demonstrate how feedback influenced outcomes
- Provide evidence to boards, executives, regulators and funders
Because the SRM and engagement tools are fully integrated, reporting is accurate, consistent and evidence-based.
Consultation Software as a Strategic Asset
Consultation software is no longer a “nice to have”. It is now a strategic capability that underpins:
- Trust and transparency
- Better decision-making
- Risk reduction
- Regulatory compliance
- Stakeholder confidence
- Long-term relationship management
By combining engagement tools, SRM and reporting in one secure platform, Engagement Hub enables organisations to manage consultation with confidence — across every sector and every stakeholder group.
Start Building Better Engagement
Whether you are consulting with communities, customers, staff or stakeholders — Engagement Hub provides everything you need to design, deliver and manage engagement from one powerful platform.
To find out more, book a demo with one of our team to discuss your objectives and to see the software in action.
