Introduction to Parliament, Policy & Public Sector Influence

Area of Interest: Government and Leadership

Course Summary

This program is designed to provide learners with a new perspective on the relationship between politics and evidence to inform their understanding of policy work and the role of advocacy work.

Throughout the program, ‘taken for granted’ assumptions about Ministers having the final say, policy being apolitical, and that growing bodies of evidence drive policy acceptance, will be challenged through contemporary examples. In response, participants will be provided with practical strategies and tools to enhance their policy work and understand the role of advocacy in parliament.

Duration: 2 Days

Delivery Mode: In-person

Course Content

This course is broken into the following core topics:

• Understanding parliament & policy
• “No, Minister” – the new parliamentary norm
• Understanding the crossbench and back bench
• A new perspective on policy and evidence

Applying the ‘marginal member’ heuristic to policy and advocacy work

Learning Outcomes

By completing this course, learners will be able to:

• Explain parliamentary and policy ideals, as well as critique them with real-world practicalities.
• Analyse the relative influence of politics and evidence for their policy and advocacy work.
• Design approaches to lift the influence of evidence in political settings.
• Deliver plans to support policy success with different political audiences.
• Apply a ‘marginal member’ heuristic to design policy and understand to role of advocacy.

Who should attend

This short course is best suited for mid-level public sector employees, government relations managers, and advocacy groups who seek to use evidence to inform their policy and to better understand the role and influence of advocacy. It will also be of interest to peak body or agency executives who are interested in lifting their influence within parliament.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Facilitator

Prof. Brenton Prosser

Brenton Prosser is Professor of Public Policy and Leadership at UNSW Canberra. He has worked in senior leadership roles across public, private, health and social service sectors, as well as at leading Australian and UK universities. He was Chief of Staff to Senator Nick Xenophon during the period when he held the balance of power. He was also senior policy and media advisor to the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Democrats.

Brenton has also been a senior executive in the APS, Director with a peak social services body and Director (Policy) with an international management consultancy agency where he specialised in national policy evaluations and helping non-government bodies to build their evidence-base. He was co-author, with Richard Denniss, of Minority Policy: Rethinking Governance when Parliament Matters, which examined the implications of minority government on public policy theory and practice.