Co-designing public policy in high-income colonial-settler countries: a systematic review

While co-design has become ubiquitous in policy implementation, its potential for policy design remains to be investigated. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, this article systematically reviews the evidence to uncover a dearth of co-designed policies in high-income colonial-settler countries. Notwithstanding, the four co-designed policies illustrate seven critical themes that offer policymakers ideological considerations when facilitating the authentic involvement of ‘end-users’ in policy design. Though co-design is not a panacea, this review demonstrates how the embedment of co-design in policy design mechanisms can address entrenched power imbalances, empower community voices, wear down silos, and pull up more relevant seats to the decision-making table–phenomena uncommonly found in colonial-settler contexts. Further research is needed to understand the benefits, risks, and impacts of co-designed policies and practical implications for policymakers that operate within constrained landscapes to enable genuine participation of intended beneficiaries in policy design.