REACH

REACH (Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home) is the Singapore Government’s lead public-engagement and policy-feedback unit. REACH says it facilitates whole-of-government efforts to engage citizens on national and social issues and had its origins in the Feedback Unit established in 1985; the unit was restructured and renamed REACH in October 2006 and became the Government’s e-engagement platform in January 2009 (REACH, last updated 18 December 2024). REACH is a feedback and engagement institution, not Parliament, not a ministry that owns sectoral policy, and not a decision-maker that by itself changes law or scheme rules.

Mandate and whole-of-government engagement

REACH describes its role as listening to citizens’ views and creating openness between the Government and Singaporeans through continued conversation, community participation and collaboration (REACH, last updated 18 December 2024). MDDI’s public-engagement material says REACH gathers feedback on national and social issues, analyses it, and shares it with colleagues in relevant ministries and agencies as part of policymaking (MDDI, last updated 4 November 2025). That sharing function informs policy development; ministerial and agency decision processes remain separate from REACH's gathering role, and REACH does not adjudicate individual benefit applications.

The unit sits under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information in Singapore’s current public-service structure (MDDI, last updated 4 November 2025). REACH complements, rather than replaces, ministries’ own consultation exercises and programmes such as singapore model parliament, which REACH organises as youth civic-learning outreach (REACH homepage, accessed 5 September 2026).

Engagement channels and Listening Points

REACH maintains multiple feedback channels. MDDI lists the REACH online feedback form, postal submissions to 140 Hill Street at the Old Hill Street Police Station, and REACH’s official website and social-media presences (MDDI, last updated 4 November 2025). REACH also runs time-bound themed consultations and Listening Points—including online e-Listening Points and ground booths—on issues such as healthcare financing, budget priorities and National Day Rally themes (REACH homepage, accessed 5 September 2026).

A Listening Point gathers views within published terms. For example, REACH’s September 2026 healthcare-financing e-Listening Point invited Singapore citizens and permanent residents to share views on MediSave and other healthcare financing schemes from 3 to 14 September 2026 (REACH healthcare financing Listening Point, 3 September 2026). Participation routes and any contest incentives are defined in those terms; they are not themselves healthcare payments or automatic policy changes.

Boundaries with ministries and policy change

REACH should be distinguished from ministries, statutory boards, regulators and Parliament. When REACH hosts a consultation on a proposed bill or scheme, the consultation terms govern who may participate, how feedback is collected and whether incentives apply; they do not by themselves enact the proposed measure. Policy change requires subsequent official announcements, legislation or administrative instruments by the responsible authority (REACH healthcare financing Listening Point, 3 September 2026).

Similarly, REACH engagement does not guarantee that a participant’s preferred outcome will be adopted, that every resident was consulted, or that online feedback counts as a formal appeal against an agency decision. Citizens seeking a transaction outcome should still use the relevant agency’s statutory channels. For current consultation windows and themes, REACH’s website remains the authoritative schedule (REACH, accessed 5 September 2026).