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.

“This course helps me be more efficient and focused. I am very happy with the practical knowledge and skills that I can take away from the course.” – Lucas from Development WA

“This course has given me a better understanding of writing briefing notes. Karyn was excellent! I learnt so much from. Very clear in her delivery of the course and also made it fun!” – Leah from EMHS

“Great facilitator, fun, engaging and knowledgeable. This course also reminded me of taking a mindful approach” – from DEMIRS

“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