LGMA QUEENSLAND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Working Effectively with Government
A half day masterclass in making your council’s case
Date/Time: Wednesday 5 November from 12.30 to 4.30pm.
Venue: Brighter Super, Level 20, 333 Ann Street, Brisbane
Registration: $770 LGMA members (individual members) and $880 for non members
Inclusions: Light lunch on arrival
Every council has a list of things it needs from government. Funding for the road. A planning decision. A policy that reflects what regional communities experience. Most of those cases are well argued and evidence based, and many still go nowhere.
The reason is rarely the merit. Government runs to its own rhythms and structures, and knowing which agency owns the problem, when the budget and policy windows open, and how to present a case so it can be acted on quickly makes the difference between a proposal that progresses and one that sits.
Your presenters
This half day workshop demystifies that process. Between them, Tess and Di have worked every side of the table: the department that assesses the proposal, the ministerial office that decides its fate, and the peak body making the case.

Tess Bishop, Chief Executive Officer, LGMA Queensland
Tess has spent more than 20 years inside government, including as a Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in the Australian Public Service and in senior roles in both Prime Minister and Cabinet and Queensland’s Premier and Cabinet. She has written the briefs, run the budget bids, appeared before Senate Estimates and parliamentary committees, and assessed countless proposals from outside government.

Diana Hallam, Chief Executive Officer, Wooloowardalla Pastoral
Di has led advocacy at the national level and seen how it lands at the top. She was Chief of Staff to a former Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association, and a First Assistant Secretary in the Australian Public Service, with corporate experience at Singapore Airlines and Toll Group. She understands what cuts through in a minister’s office and what rural and regional communities need to do to be heard in Canberra.
They will be joined by high profile guest speakers offering candid insight into how decisions are made at the most senior levels of government.
Tess and Diana will be joined by key experts including journalists and former senior public servants such as Ms Rachel Hunter AO PSM.
You’ll leave knowing how to:
- Navigate the machinery of government and identify the right agency and the right officer
- Align your approach with budget, Cabinet and election cycles rather than working against them
- Understand how strategic communication is important and how the media world works
- Structure a submission or briefing so a busy decision maker can act on it
- Build durable, professional relationships with departments that hold up between crises
- Present a council priority in terms that connect with government objectives
This workshop is grounded in proper process and public sector integrity expectations. Councils operate under scrutiny, and everything taught here can be applied with complete confidence in front of a Board, a council meeting or an integrity body.
Who it’s for: Chief executive officers, executives and senior managers who need results from state and Commonwealth government.
Book now: With only 15 places, this workshop is expected to sell out. Be quick.
Transport: Here