The Government Relations Masterclass is a two day training delivered by Australian Democracy Network and Australian Progress to build the skills of 50 mid-to-senior level campaigners leading policy advocacy and government relations.
This hands-on training is designed for those leading campaigns across a range of civil society issues who have little to no experience in leading policy reform and systemic change under a federal Labor government and growing crossbench.
The Masterclass will be a highly interactive training with a deep-dive into a range of skills, tactics and strategies for you to advocate on your issues and win – including effective decision maker engagement, developing and delivering a compelling pitch on your issue, expert advice for navigating Parliament, making the most of your time in Canberra, and practically apply these skills through practice lobby meetings.
Delivered in person at Parliament House, the training will also provide you with the unique opportunity to learn from the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, key crossbench staffers, experienced civil society policy advocates, and government relations experts.
Final round of applications have now closed. Applications submitted from 22 July will be placed on a waiting list.
TRAINING GOALS AND OUTCOMES
Understanding the role of government relations in a campaign for social change, and how to develop a government relations advocacy strategy.
Learning how to develop and deliver a compelling lobbying pitch with an opportunity to conduct practice lobby meetings with MPs and senators.
Building skills in decision-maker engagement and lobbying, including how to secure and prepare for lobbying meetings, develop key messages, conduct meetings and ongoing engagement.
Building direct connections and relationships with decision-makers, key staffers and government relations experts.
Familiarising yourself with Parliament House including how to navigate your way around, understand systems, and make the most of your time in Canberra.
Connecting with a peer network of fellow changemakers leading policy advocacy and campaigns.
KEY DATES
The Government Relations Masterclass will be delivered twice over two separate cohorts in mid-September. Participants will be allocated to one of the following set of dates subject to availability and demand:
11-12 September — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEST
13-14 September — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEST
The Masterclass will also include an online pre-requisite training that will be delivered the week before, which will include an introduction to key concepts in government relations, skills workshops and preparing your campaign to make the most of your time in Canberra.
Tuesday, 5th September – 2:00PM to 4:00PM AEST
Wednesday, 6th September – 2:00PM to 4:00PM AEST
Thursday, 7th September – 2:00PM to 4:00PM AEST
SPEAKERS
We will hear from 10 government relations experts, policy advocates and expert campaigners who will share a range of insights, strategies and case studies.
Saffron Zomer — Executive Director, Australian Democracy Network (Co-facilitator)
Jess Kendall — Co-Director, Economic Media Centre (Co-facilitator)
Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP — Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
COST
$1,100+GST: Small Nonprofit – For nonprofits with an annual budget of less than $1 million.
$1,600+GST: Regular Nonprofit – For nonprofits with an annual budget between $1-3 million.
$2,200+GST: Large Nonprofit – For nonprofits with an annual budget of more than $3 million.
$3,000+GST: For-Profit | Education | Social Enterprise – For businesses, education and government bodies.
$500+GST: Partial Scholarships – For First Nations people, people with disability, people of colour and people with lived experience seeking asylum as well as people from remote and regional communities, and people who work with grassroots movements / organisations.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Partial and full scholarships are available for For First Nations people, people with disability, people of colour and people with lived experience seeking asylum as well as people from remote and regional communities, and people who work with grassroots movements / organisations. We also have a very limited number of travel and accommodation allowances. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, please indicate your interest on your application form.
ACCESS INFORMATION
We will work with you to ensure that you can fully participate in the workshop. For any successful applicants for the masterclass, we will ask you for your access needs in the participant info form.
IN-PERSON
Covid safety - To reduce the spread of Covid, we will provide N95 masks, RATs and hand sanitiser. All trainers, coaches and staff will undertake rapid tests before the training. If you are sick or unwell, we encourage you to stay home.
Wheelchair accessibility - Parliament House is a wheelchair accessible venue. You can borrow a wheelchair from the Information Desk in the Marble Foyer.
Accessible bathrooms - An accessible toilet and change facility is available in Parliament House on Level 1, adjacent to the Post Office.
Guide dogs and assistance animals - Guide dogs and other assistance animals accompanied by their handler are welcome in the public areas of Parliament House.
ONLINE TOOLS AND RESOURCES
Zoom - During the pre-training, we will be meeting via Zoom. If you have access to a computer or laptop, we recommend you join the training by computer to make navigating the materials easier. A dial-in number will also be supplied in case you do not have access to a computer, or you can use the Zoom phone app (iOS | Android). See here for accessibility documentation for Zoom; including list of keyboard shortcuts here.
Video norms - During the pre-training, we will encourage everyone to have your cameras on if you feel comfortable, but we will not require you to do so.
Chat - On Zoom you will be able to use the chat function. Participants will be asked to introduce themselves in chat, and to enter responses in the chat throughout the pre-training sessions.
Captions - We will have auto captions enabled in Zoom during the pre-training.
Google Docs and Digital Documents - We will be sharing training materials over Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Slides. All documents, forms, and surveys will be provided in accessible formats. During the pre-training we will use the screen share function to share slides, as well as navigating between Zoom and an interactive slide deck.
Early access to slides - A view-only version of the slide deck can be supplied early if this supports your participation. Any copies of the slides provided will include alt-text / image descriptions. Some guest speaker slides cannot be provided in advance. If you need early access to materials, please mention this in the ‘access needs’ question when completing your participant info form
Post-training resources - We do not supply recordings from the online sections of the training as standard, but can record sections of presentation if needed to facilitate your engagement. You will receive a copy of the presenter slide deck and interactive slide deck, and other resources. Where video or audio content is included during the training or in any of the resources, we will provide audio descriptions, captions or transcripts as needed/
PROCESSES DURING TRAINING
Setting norms - As a cohort, we will also set expectations at the start of the training to ensure everyone can comfortably participate in the Masterclass.
Breaks - For the pre-training online, each session will be 90-minutes with no breaks. For the Masterclass in-person, we have included 15-minute morning tea and afternoon tea breaks on top of 1-hour for lunch
Breakout rooms - This training uses breakout rooms throughout, with group sizes ranging from pairs through to groups of five for discussions and workshop activities/
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
Guest speakers - All our guest speakers and trainers will be notified about any access needs ahead of time, and we will do our best to ensure that speakers are briefed to ensure their presentations are accessible.
Auslan interpretation - If you need Auslan interpreters, please let us know when completing the participant information form. Depending on interpreter availability in Canberra, and whether you have preferred interpreters, we will work with you to organise interpreters. Because of the high demand for interpreters nationally, we can’t guarantee that interpreters will be arranged at short-notice.
Other additional support - In your participant info form, we will ask you for your access needs. If you require something in place that is not already arranged, or if you need more information about any part of the Masterclass, we will work with you to provide this.