Parliament, Policy and Advocacy

Area of Interest: Government and Leadership

Course Summary

This course is an elite-level, in-person program designed to provide new perspectives on the relationship between parliament, politics, and evidence, to inform understandings about policy work and the role of advocacy.

Led by national experts in the field, this course will challenge ‘taken for granted’ assumptions about public policy creation and provide practical tools for formulating and delivering successful policy outcomes. Places for this course will be strictly limited to facilitate personalised, small-group instruction.

Duration: 2 Days

Delivery Mode: In-person

Course Content

This two-day course addresses contemporary issues in and criticisms of public policy creation in Australia. It will be delivered in the format of small-group, one-on-one learning with national experts. The course will look at new parliamentary and Executive government norms, including the roles of Ministers, their staff, backbenchers, and crossbenchers. It will examine new perspectives on policy and evidence, and how applying a ‘marginal member’ heuristic to policy and advocacy work can lead to better outcomes for public policy creation. The second day will focus on practical exercises, where participants will take part in hypothetical situations based on real-world examples.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain Australian public policy ideals, as well as critique them with real-world practicalities
• Analyse the influence of politics on policy creation and policy advocacy
• Understand the opportunities and limitations of evidence-based policy
• Apply a ‘marginal member’ heuristic to design policy and to understand the role of non-Executive advocacy in policy outcomes
• Develop practical strategies and tools to enhance policy work in the APS
• Plan for, and evaluate, policy success with different stakeholder groups

Who should attend

This short course is designed for SES level employees, and EL public sector employees who wish to pursue their careers at SES level in the future, who seek to use evidence to inform their policy and to better understand the role and influence of parliament, politics, and advocacy on government policy processes.

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.

Dr. Richard Denniss

Richard Denniss is a leader in economic and social policy analysis and debate in Australia. A high profile and active media contributor, Richard is the CEO of the Australia Institute. He also has extensive experience as a Chief of Staff in parliament with the Greens and Australian Democrats, while he continues to support crossbench and independent members in their policy work. A former Associate Professor at ANU, Richard has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics, and think-tanks. Richard is currently writing a book on economics with Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz. As a strategic thinker and constructive provocateur, Richard is a vibrant national leader in politics and policy teaching.