Abstract: Community engagement processes are an important part of strategic land use planning practice in order to facilitate good governance. However, local governments in particular, are recognising that statutory driven community consultation processes and more conventional engagement practices have proven inadequate when managing emotive and conflict-filled situations with communities opposed to contentious policy directions. While local governments are committing more resources to engagement processes, many of these practices are based on assumptions about human behaviour that do not always align with contemporary applied behavioural research. The applied behavioural sciences are increasingly being used by governments across Australia and internationally to inform public policy in recognition that previous approaches might be drawing on misplaced assumptions about human behaviour. In particular, the integration of an understanding of how people process information and make decisions within community engagement processes has the potential to assist with constructive participation objectives and land use planning policy development. This paper draws upon the applied behavioural sciences and examines a number of ways they could be used to improve the efficacy of community engagement practice focusing on the Victorian strategic land use planning context.