• Step 3. Develop a project plan

    Developing a plan is essential before commencing a policy initiative. A project plan provides a clear roadmap for the activities, resources, and timelines needed. 

    It also assesses the feasibility and strategic alignment of the initiative before any work commences.  

    A well-structured plan sets an informed and organised journey and ensures that all stakeholders understand the objectives, approach and governance required. 

    Alongside your project plan you might also like to develop a risk assessment and mitigation plan. This will help you identify potential risks or challenges that could impact the project and develop mitigation strategies.  

    Project plan inclusions

    Objective and scope  

    Include a clear statement of the policy initiative’s purpose, goals, and high-level scope.

    Key stakeholders

    Identify internal and external stakeholders who will be involved in or affected by the policy initiative. Develop a stakeholder engagement plan.

    Approach and methodology

    Define the framework or approach that will guide the development process, including:

    • research methods
    • stakeholder engagement
    • consultation strategies
    • the skills and resources needed to deliver the approach and methodology.  

    Governance and approval

    Include a description of the governance structures and decision-making process required for the initiative, including who will approve the plan.

    Resources

     

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  • Phase 2: Discovery

  • The Discovery phase involves an initial exploration of the project. This determines what sort of work might be needed to address the problem and planning to do so.

  • Policy planning tips

  • 5-phase policy development process

  • Purpose, objective and outcome

    There are 6 steps to complete in the discovery phase, after which you can share your findings with key stakeholders and seek relevant approvals to proceed.  

    • Purpose: to understand the problem, assess the landscape, and identify user needs to inform policy development and potential approaches.  
    • Outcome: a clear understanding of the problem space and users’ needs.  
    • Output: a well-informed discovery report with useful insights and findings about the problem and opportunities to address it, ready to move into the alpha phase to ideate possible solutions.   
  • Step 1. Stakeholder engagement

    Consultation is vital to ensure the voices of stakeholders and affected parties are heard. Consultation will help you gather diverse insights, build trust and foster collaboration. 

    Effective consultation ensures that the policy is informed by those impacted by it, leading to better outcomes and smoother implementation. 

    This step will help you engage stakeholders, define the problem and understand the user needs.  

    Actions to prepare for stakeholder engagement  

    Identify key stakeholders

    Determine who will be affected by the policy and who should be involved. Do stakeholder mapping to identify key stakeholders.

    Define objectives

    Clearly outline what you aim to achieve in consultation, such as:

    • gathering feedback
    • validating findings
    • identifying new perspectives.

    Plan your research

    Plan how you will conduct research, including what methods you will use. For example:

    • workshops
    • surveys
    • focus groups
    • public forums
    • consultation papers.  

    Make sure the process captures a broad range of perspectives, particularly from voices that may otherwise be overlooked.

    Develop materials

    Prepare background information, guiding questions and other materials to help stakeholders understand the context and contribute meaningfully:

    • establish feedback documenting processes
    • prepare background information and guiding questions
    • include any other materials to help stakeholders understand the context and contribute meaningfully.
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  • Step 2. Define the problem

    Defining the problem is critical. A clear definition of the problem will ensure the core issue is clearly understood and articulated – this will set the direction for the solution.

    A well-defined problem provides focus, ensures stakeholder alignment, and helps guide research and engagement.

    It is important to take the time to thoroughly understand the issue, to avoid addressing symptoms rather than root cause.

    Actions to define the problem  

    Identify key stakeholders

    Gather relevant background information about the issue including context and impacted stakeholders. You may have found some of this information during the pre-discovery phase or while preparing for stakeholder engagement.

    Engage stakeholders

    Consult with key stakeholders to gain insights into their perspectives, challenges and how the problem affects them.

    Explore the underlying factors

    Further understand the problem by exploring and articulating the underlying factors based on what you have found so far.

    Clarify symptoms vs. root causes

    Analyse the information you have gathered to distinguish between surface-level issues (symptoms) and the underlying factors driving the problem (root cause).

    Create a problem definition

    Articulate the problem in a clear, concise statement that captures the essence and scope without suggesting solutions.

    Validate the problem

    Test the problem definition with stakeholders to ensure it is well-understood and agreed on.

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  • Digital inclusion

    Digital inclusion is the capability of individuals or groups to enjoy the benefits of being online and use technology confidently to improve their day-to-day lives.2

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  • Step 3. Understand user needs

    This step focuses on defining what the stakeholder needs are and the challenges and opportunities to address the problem. It also outlines the stakeholder views on how the problem should be addressed.

    If you intend to speak with the same stakeholders in this step and the previous step, you may wish to combine the consultations. Alternatively using different research methods can help differentiate between activities. For example, conducting workshops to explore the problem and interviews to delve into stakeholders’ needs.

    Conduct user research

    Engage stakeholders

    Engage stakeholders to understand user needs, including potential opportunities to address the problem.

    Analyse information

    Analyse information from stakeholders to establish key findings about the user experiences.

    Synthesise insights

    Bring all the information you have gathered from the desktop research in pre-discovery together with the landscape review and the stakeholder research to develop key insights.

    Summarise the consultation

    Summarise who you consulted with and what you found. This will feed into the discovery report in step 5.

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  • Step 4. Explore the landscape

    Diving deeper into the broader context surrounding the policy issue will help you expand on initial research and gain a comprehensive understanding of the current policy environment, relevant regulations, stakeholder perspectives and existing solutions.

    This step ensures the proposed solution is well-informed and positioned to address gaps, challenges, and opportunities within the landscape.

    Further explore the landscape

    In-depth desktop research

    Deepen initial research by reviewing detailed reports, academic studies, and government publications to identify relevant policy approaches, both locally and internationally.

    Avoid duplication

    Consider if refreshing or expanding on existing policies or standards would meet your requirements and avoid duplication. To understand existing artefacts aligned to the capabilities, visit the Australian Government Architecture (AGA).

    Engage stakeholders

    Meet with additional internal and external stakeholders to gather further insights.

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  • Step 5. Define success measures

    Success measures ensure that objectives are being met and provide a framework for evaluating the impact of the solution over time. 

    Success measures also help stakeholders understand the intended outcomes and help you to adjust if necessary. 

    It’s important to do this early in the process before you develop a solution. This will give you a clear understanding of what success looks like and how to measure it throughout the process, up to and including the live phase. You can also use these success measures to test the prototypes you will build in this phase.

    Actions to define success measures  

    Identify key outcomes

    Determine the outcomes the solution aims to achieve – what does success look like?  

    Determine metrics

    Decide what to measure based on the key outcomes and what information you have available. Establish success metrics and conduct benchmarking of current performance levels. 

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  • Step 6. Create a discovery report

    A discovery report is a critical output of the discovery phase. 

    It captures findings, insights and research gathered during the phase. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the policy problem, user needs and the context surrounding the issue. 

    This report will serve as the foundation for decision-making. It will guide the phases of solution development, providing a clear understanding of the problem space and key considerations  

    Include in your discover report  

    Stakeholder engagement summary

    An overview of stakeholder consultations and their input on the issue.  

    Problem definition

    A clear articulation of the problem identified, including its scope, significance and impact on the stakeholders in step 2 of this phase.

    User research insights

    An analysis and summary of the user research conducted, highlighting key themes, pain points and user needs.

    Policy landscape review

    A review of existing policies, frameworks, and strategies that relate to the issue.  

    Opportunities and challenges

    Identifying potential opportunities for intervention and challenges that may need to be addressed.

    Resources

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  • Next: Phase 3: Alpha

    Policy toolkit: alpha

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    5-phase policy planning

  • Creating a new policy is not always be the best approach. It’s crucial to start with a clear understanding of the problem, rather than having a solution like a policy or standard already in mind.

  • Defining policies

    A policy can describe both the goals and intent of an authority, like government, Cabinet, a department or an organisation.

    • Policies establish overarching principles and rules to guide decision-making and behaviour.
    • Policy also refers to the specific tool, instrument or approach used to achieve those goals and objectives.

    Policy outcomes can be achieved through various paths, but compliance with mandatory policies requires a clear understanding from those implementing the policy and those effected.

    There are a range of tools and instruments that apply to policy work.

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  • Defining policies

    A policy can describe both the goals and intent of an authority, like government, Cabinet, a department or an organisation.

    • Policies establish overarching principles and rules to guide decision-making and behaviour.
    • Policy also refers to the specific tool, instrument or approach used to achieve those goals and objectives.

    Policy outcomes can be achieved through various paths, but compliance with mandatory policies requires a clear understanding from those implementing the policy and those effected.

    There are a range of tools and instruments that apply to policy work.

    Choose the right instrument

    The 5-phase process introduced in this toolkit will help you determine the most appropriate instrument to address the problem.

    Beyond the type of instrument, the level of endorsement or approval should be considered in line with the problem or objective to be addressed, this will depend on the ‘needs’ of the solution.

    Endorsement and approval levels may range from Cabinet, Ministerial, head of agency or CEO.

    Policy categories and approval

    In practical terms, policies can be categorised as:

    • Whole-of-government policies: apply to all government agencies, organisations and entities. They are often broad in scope and require Cabinet-endorsement.
    • Portfolio, sector or area policies: apply to agencies or organisations within a specific portfolio or sector and policies that are relevant to a particular area. For example, the digital delivery policies available on the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) website. The close connection to digital delivery means these types of policies will be more flexible and, in some cases, more suitable than a Cabinet-endorsed policy.
    • Organisation or agency level policies: these policies are internal to entities and guide internal decision-making, while aligning to broader whole-of-government policies. They often relate to human resources, such as governing travel and remote work. They may also cover topics like technology, risk or internal governance.

  • The Australian Public Service Academy uses a definition from the Australian Policy Handbook of policy as ‘a Statement of government intent, and its implementation through the use of policy instruments’. 

    Althaus, Bridgman, Davis 2023

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