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Everyday across the nine governments at the federal and state level, there are literally hundreds of consultation processes underway (and that is before we consider more than 530 local councils.)
At the moment the relatively new federal government is in the midst of multiple consultation exercises across all portfolios. The two highest profile examples are the Employment White Paper which is itself a continuation of the extensive engagement in the lead up to the Jobs and Skills Summit in September. The consultation process regarding the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will be led by a Parliamentary Joint Select Committee and will seek community views before it returns to the Parliament when the NACC bill will be debated, and potentially passed, in the final sitting week in December.
Throughout Australia there are also lower profile consultation processes afoot on the national food and grocery code, the management of fallow deer in Tasmania, the NSW Legal Assistance strategy and the draft Hunter Regional Transport Plan, to name a few.
These processes allow organisations to engage with the public sector in an open and transparent process and afford them the opportunity to put ideas forward, share experiences, outline concerns, raise their profile in the minds of key decision makers and hopefully ensure better decisions are made by our elected representatives and their officials. Well, that is what is supposed to happen!
Those are all laudable aims and good reasons for organisations to engage with governments and parliaments via consultation processes. Based on Daymark’s experience, there are some pitfalls, warnings and suggestions that should be considered before you start on the consultation journey.
How to engage with confidence
You must have something of interest to say and be prepared to make your point of view in a constructive manner. It is essential to do the work to create a compelling argument. Depending upon the importance of the issue for your business, it may be worthwhile commissioning research to help bolster your argument. Your ultimate view can be expressed in only a few pages with background information available if needed. The work to create a submission can then be repurposed for social media, conference presentations, annual reports, and internal communications.
You should consider the value of collaborating with your industry colleagues to put a collective position to an inquiry. This will often lead to a more powerful approach and the bigger the voice the harder it is to ignore. The work of the property sectors in Victoria and more recently Queensland was a key consideration in policy changes by those jurisdictions.
You must also be prepared to ‘do media’ if the need arises. We have seen businesses happy to sit behind their written paper but not prepared to mount their case via the media for fear of creating controversy. Ultimately that just waters down the case. Again, the media spokesperson role can be played by your industry association.
If you have government contracts but are planning to put a view via a consultation process that is contrary to the government’s, at least give them a heads up first. Governments normally respect your right to express a view but are not that enamoured by those who blindside them.
The submission to an inquiry should be seen as the start of the process not the end. Use it as a basis for seeking meetings and engagement with key government figures to explain your views. While a meeting with a minister may stroke the ego of your CEO, direct engagement with senior bureaucrats and staffers is also essential and, in our experience, has led to better outcomes.
