Writing for Government – including Ministerials & Briefing Notes

Course Times

• 8:30am to 3:30pm

Course Content

Planning to get it right

• What is effective writing?
• Clarify expectations and standards
• Identify the purpose and outcomes
• Identify your audience and their needs
• Structure documents for impact and readability
• Plain English principles

Working with Government documents

• The fundamentals of writing for Government
• The essentials of form, format, templates and style
• Ministerial correspondence
• Briefing notes
• Parliamentary questions

Editing and proofreading

• Edit and proofread for:
  • Accuracy
  • Brevity
  • Clarity

What’s next?

• Sources of support and further information
• Personal action plan

• Write better government correspondence
• Review and assess sample government documents
• Apply the principles of effective written communication for a range of purposes and a variety of audiences
• Apply the structure and formatting requirements of government writing
• Write with clarity and impact
• Be clear, considered and concise with your message
• Write documents that are approved without undue redrafting
• Use editing and proofreading for effective quality control

This course requires no previous training or experience.

Participants are requested to bring samples of letters, memos or e-mails from their workplace to refer to during the course.

“Examples were easy to understand and relative” Cecily from Public Sector Commission

“Gained a structured process for writing, including what is needed and what is excess” Wayne from Public Sector Commission

“I now know how to structure a document” Cassandra from Department of Health

“Easy to understand and convert the skills into daily use” Donna from Department of Communities

“Useful, practical tips” Natalie from Department of Health

“Very clear foundation and a presenter who was happy to help” Sallie from Department of Health

“Learning to use plain English was the best part of this course” Rose from Main Roads WA

“I enjoyed having the trainer assist us in editing a document we had previously written, so we could see how to improve” Tahney from Main Roads WA

“The best skill I learnt here was to plan before writing” Walter from DMIRS

“Learnt how to make my writing more precise” Felicia from DMIRS

“Taught me how to bring my writing style into the 21^st century” Claire from Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage

“The best part of this course was the layout and tools I gained for effective writing” Shaun from Department of Education

“The structuring of content and collating of information were the best features of this course” Merinda from DMIRS

“Broke writing techniques down into easy steps” Amy from Child and Adolescent Community Health

“The best feature of this course was the planning process given to us” Roy from DMIRS

“I now understand the importance of using simple language” Ryan from Department of Communities