Kerri Kellett Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) Liaison Officer 1

Overview The role of the Commonwealth public service Some of the key differences between researchers and public servants The policy development environment in which public servants work and why this is important for researchers to understand Key issues public servants need to address when providing advice to government How to write a summary of your research so that it is accessible to public servants 2

The role of the public service Public servants serve the government of the day, recognising its policy parameters and philosophical leanings, and then develop policy within that context Commonwealth public servants work under a range of values and ethics and must adhere to a Code of Conduct at all times Public servants must be apolitical, professional, objective, efficient and always maintain appropriate levels of confidentiality in relation to what they are working on 3

World Health Organisation Model 4

The policy development environment In developing policy public servants face a number of constraints: political, fiscal and those imposed by tight deadlines In some cases policy development occurs over a long time period and involves widespread stakeholder consultation and consideration of all the available evidence What is common however, is that policy options are needed quickly often within a few days or even a few hours 5

Key issues public servants need to address in advice to government? Ministers and their advisers are very busy people with lots of competing priorities at any given time Advice from public servants therefore needs to be succinct and relevant and include only the most critical information the government needs to make a decision Key issues public servants need to address include: the problem, the background, the possible solutions, the risks, the cost and the preferred way forward 6

Challenge – try to write a research summary for the public service You might like to try writing a two page summary while at this workshop which reflects the issues public servants need to address in their advice In doing so, make sure you provide a succinct overview of:  The problem  The background  Possible solutions and implementation details  Risks and sensitivities  Costs including offsets  Preferred option and brief explanation of why 7