52 city leaders helped shape the Charter governing a $14.8m annual budget.

In 2020, the City of Adelaide decided to bring its scattered economic development work under one roof. Marketing, investment attraction, visitor services and the Rundle Mall Management Authority would combine into one agency with its own board, drawing on around $7.9 million of reallocated city funding and the $3.8 million Rundle Mall levy.

What had not been decided was the agency’s Charter: its purpose, the make-up of its board, and how city businesses would have a say. Council asked for the business community and precinct groups to be consulted on the charter before anything was finalised.

In July 2020, in the middle of COVID-19, Becky designed and independently facilitated five virtual round tables. Fifty-two senior representatives took part, from business, property and investment, tourism, major attractions, precinct groups and industry associations, supported by a background paper and an online survey. Council staff observed and stayed out of the conversation, so it belonged to the participants.

“Strength in numbers with Adelaide businesses working together to strengthen all businesses in the city, with positivity!”

Participant, Business Roundtable 2

Becky’s report, Let’s Charter!, separated strong agreement from genuine disagreement. Participants wanted a clear, focused purpose, a small skills-based board, and collaboration as a core function. Where there was no consensus, such as whether a physical visitor centre was still needed, the report said so plainly. It closed with 20 recommendations.

Two findings stood out. Business owners wanted a formal structure for being heard at board level. Precinct groups wanted to co-design a new precinct model with the agency.

Council decision, 6 October 2020. When the decision paper went to Council on 6 October 2020, the officers stated that the round tables “informed this report and the development of the proposed Charter” and that the Charter “has been based on the round table consultation process”. They quoted the board-voice recommendation directly and set out the Charter changes made “to respond to this feedback”. That night, Council resolved to create the Adelaide Economic Development Agency. It opened on 18 January 2021.

Two independent reviews in 2023 tested the agency after two and a half years. KPMG interviewed more than 40 stakeholders and found that “all stakeholders consulted were supportive of the current AEDA model for driving City economic activity and growth”. Deloitte traced the agency’s start to “significant stakeholder engagement and planning around the terms of their Charter” and found AEDA “highly valued” by Council and external stakeholders for its delivery.

For businesses: a formal seat at the table. The Advisory Committee of up to eight members has a representative on the AEDA board.

For the city: one agency with a clear purpose, running a $14.8 million budget in 2022-23, and trusted by State Government as the source of city economic data.

For Council: the Charter adopted at a single meeting, with the engagement report attached as evidence.

The City of Adelaide created AEDA and wrote its Charter. Becky designed and ran the engagement and wrote the recommendations the Charter was based on.

The precinct co-design process did not proceed. In 2023, Deloitte found precinct groups “feel under-represented in AEDA initiatives” and recommended reviewing the engagement model with mainstreet precincts. KPMG found “no strong push for precinct reform”. The one recommendation not implemented is the area both reviews identified for further work.

The recommendations Council adopted are the elements the 2023 reviews found working: the purpose, the skills-based board, the business voice and the data function. The one recommendation not implemented is the element both reviews raised. The engagement was completed before the Charter was fixed, and Council recorded that the Charter was based on it.