Delivery Mode
Face-to-face or virtual workshop.
A mix of interactive activities including hands-on exercises and simulations to apply concepts.
Duration
1 day
Writing Briefs for Government
Develop the skills to prepare clear, concise and persuasive briefs that support sound decision-making.
Effective briefs are essential to good governance. Whether you are preparing advice for executives, ministers, senior leaders, boards or internal decision-makers, your writing needs to be accurate, well-structured, timely and focused on the decision required.
This practical course will help participants plan, draft and refine government briefs that communicate key information clearly and withstand internal and external scrutiny. Participants will also explore how to use AI tools effectively and ethically to support research, drafting, editing and quality assurance, while maintaining accuracy, confidentiality and human judgement.
Is this course right for you?
This course is designed for professionals who need to prepare briefs, submissions, recommendations or decision papers in a government or public sector context.
It is suitable for those who want to strengthen their ability to identify what matters, structure information logically, and present clear advice to decision-makers.
You will benefit from this course if you want to:
- Write clearer and more effective briefs
- Better understand the needs of decision-makers
- Identify and present relevant information
- Improve the structure, logic and flow of your advice
- Write stronger recommendations
- Reduce unnecessary detail, jargon and ambiguity
- Use AI tools appropriately to improve drafting, editing and review processes.
Participants explore the purpose of briefing documents and how they support informed, timely and accountable decision-making. This includes considering context, audience, urgency, risk and the type of decision or action required.
This section focuses on writing for senior leaders and decision-makers. Participants examine how to anticipate information needs, manage complexity, and ensure the brief answers the key questions: What is happening? Why does it matter? What decision or action is required?
Participants learn practical planning techniques to define the purpose, audience, key message, supporting evidence and desired outcome before drafting.
This section covers how to order key ideas, use headings effectively, prioritise information and create a logical flow from issue to analysis to recommendation.
Participants apply plain English principles to brief writing, with a focus on concise sentences, precise language, clear explanations and avoiding unnecessary jargon or overly technical language.
Participants practise developing recommendations that are actionable, evidence-informed and aligned to the purpose of the brief. This includes distinguishing between background information, analysis, options and advice.
Participants examine common issues in briefs, including unclear purpose, excessive detail, weak recommendations, unsupported claims, inconsistent tone and poor structure. They apply practical editing and proofreading techniques to improve quality.
Participants explore how AI can support briefing work, including summarising source material, generating outlines, testing clarity, improving concision and reviewing tone. The course also addresses key risks, including confidentiality, privacy, accuracy, bias, over-reliance, hallucinated information and the need for human review and accountability.
1 day
Face-to-face or virtual workshop.
A mix of interactive activities including hands-on exercises and simulations to apply concepts.
Practical application
This hands-on workshop includes practical writing and editing activities. Participants will examine sample briefs, identify common problems, and practise improving structure, language and recommendations.
Where appropriate, participants may also work with their own documents or realistic workplace examples to apply the techniques directly to their role.
Who should attend?
This course is ideal for:
- Public sector professionals who prepare briefs, submissions or decision papers
- Policy, program, project and operational staff
- Executive support and governance officers
- Technical specialists who need to communicate advice clearly
- Managers and team leaders who review or approve briefing documents
- Staff who need to provide clear, timely and evidence-based advice to decision-makers.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
