"Community participation and community involvement in local governance are the hallmarks of strong communities. These are key interests of the Department for Victorian Communities. As part of that interest, the Department has developed a set of Indicators of Community Strength that measure community participation, community attitudes, and how people feel about opportunities to participate in their local areas. This report provides a theoretical framework for the indicators and shows how the work of the Department for Victorian Communities fits with a broader international literature on community strengthening.