While the practice of government relations is well established, the fine line between effective communication and becoming a nuisance is sometimes a perilous one to tread – persistence can be considered irritating, while lacking vigour can signal a lack of importance or credibility. The trick to getting a message across and having it receive a fair hearing resides in the communicator’s ability to remain transparent and act with integrity. 

Government relations must be treated like any other business venture. It must have a clear and well defined objective or goal and it must provide a benefit to all concerned. Elected Members, their staff and bureaucrats are constantly lobbied on a broad range and number of issues and can spot an unorganised lobbyist at 1,000 paces - generally dismissing them as a time-waster.

All good government relations programs consist of 10 steps. While they are mostly commonsense they are often neglected. The steps outlined below can not guarantee success – no one can predict or control the random elements that influence the demeanour of a Minister on any given day – but they do provide a fighting chance.

The following 10 steps form a robust guide to effective government relations:

1. Know the audience. Establish who will be lobbied and why. Understand the separation of responsibility between local, state and federal governments and appreciate how policy development differs from administrative application. To save time, money and possible embarrassment, identify where responsibility for the issue sits and who has the authority to help.
    
2. Know the issue! Ensure the issue can be argued from every perspective – both in the affirmative and the negative. Do not personalise the issue, emotional arguments rarely sway governmental decisions, instead present true (not exaggerated!) facts and figures.

3. Know what outcome is to be achieved and how to achieve it. Successful government relations campaigns are solutions based. Suggested solutions should always align with the overall aims of the Government and result in no, or minimal, negative impact on society.

4. Structure the lobby with a clearly defined agenda and stick to it. Meetings with elected Members, their staff or bureaucrats tend to be short and plagued by interruption. Have a clearly set out agenda and provide all relevant materials in the weeks leading to the meeting. Effective communicators deliver message in a concise and structured manner and do not become overly emotional.

5. Be aware of and understand party politics. Political parties will have established 'party' positions on some issues. These issues require a whole of government campaign. A search of party policy or Hansard will identify if a 'party' position has been established.

6. Be upfront regarding who else has been lobbied. Elected Members do not like discovering the issue has already been lobbied and rejected by their peers, especially if they have been led to believe otherwise. Remain transparent and truthful to develop credibility.

7. Establish a point of contact in the elected Member’s office. Members of Parliament are busy people and it helps to establish a point of contact in their office.

8. Provide follow-up. Following the meeting, provide detailed meeting minutes to the elected Member or their staff. The minutes should be structured to highlight the actions arising from the meeting and any outcomes or offers of assistance that were secured.

9. Remaining ‘top of mind’. A quick lobby is a good lobby. Prompt follow up of the actions arising and keeping everyone informed of progress is a must. It is important not to let the issue drag as the longer it takes to find a solution the greater the risk of the issue being replaced with something more pressing or politically sensitive.

10. Success should be shared. Successful government relations always publically acknowledge the involvement of the Government or Government Member.

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