Welcome to the Lobbying & Advocacy topic in the Commons Social Change Library. We have gathered a wide range of materials to inform the public in relation to lobbying, advocacy and policy-making.
Here are some suggested links. You can also narrow down the results in the Lobbying & Advocacy Topic according to your interests by using the ‘Refine by Format’; ‘Refine by Topic’ (for cross overs with other topics eg Organising); ‘Refine by Author’; and ‘Refine by Collection’ functions.
Lobbying as a campaign tactic
Understand what role lobbying and advocacy plays within broader campaign strategies and social movements, and what skills and knowledge are required to lobby effectively.
Explore the Campaign Strategy and Theories of Change topics in the Library to work out where lobbying and advocacy fits in your campaign strategy
- Lobbying: a tactic for social change, The Change Agency
- Lobbying Workshop Guide, The Change Agency
Engaging and influencing MPs
Understand how to effectively engage with and influence MPs as a lobbyist.
- 10 things to know about how to influence policy with research, Overseas Development Institute
- Working with your elected representatives, Friends of the Earth UK
- How to get your local MP to listen to your community, Australian Conservation Foundation
- How to contact Australian Members of Parliament
- Tips for meeting MPs (or asking your members to)
- The Unicorn Activity, Australian Progress
- Politics 101, Organising in a Pandemic, ChangeMakers Organising School Season 1 – Scroll down to Session 9
- Inside Politics, ChangeMaker Chat with John Robertson, Changemaker Podcast
- Rights for Mums – MP engagement campaign case study, Leading Change Network
- 2022 Post Federal Election Australian Progress Webinars – Government Relations and Winning Reform, Australian Progress
Parliamentary processes
Understand how parliament operates, what the opportunities are for lobbyists to engage, and the legislative environment that informs lobbying and advocacy activity.
- 11 websites about the Australian federal government and MPs
- A Stakeholder’s guide to the Australian Senate
- Understanding Parliamentary Committees, For Purpose
- Defending Democracy: Safeguarding independent community voices, Human Rights Law Centre
Policy development processes
Understand how governmental policy is formulated and how lobbyists and advocates can influence the policy development process.
- Cycles and windows: How policy gets made, Emily De Rango
- Problem diagram, Mobilisation Lab
- Participatory policy making, CIVICUS
- Workshop Assessing and opening policy windows, The Change Agency
- 3 resources to assess and open policy windows, The Change Agency
Writing lobbying material
Understand how to write effective and influential lobbying and advocacy materials and how to deliver them to decision-makers.
- Tips for Policy Writing, For Purpose
- How to Write a Powerful Submission to Government, Robyn Gulliver
- Writing to your MP, Oxfam Australia
- Petitions:
- How to present a petition to parliament, ActionStation
- How to get more petition signatures, ActionStation
- Guides to effective messaging and framing:
- How to Frame Issues for Social Change Impact
- From GDP to Wellbeing, Australian National Development Index
- How to Talk About Human Rights, ASO Communications
- Progressive Framing of the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Principles for a policy response to COVID-19, Sydney Policy Lab
- Case studies on positioning affected individuals/communities as experts:
Doing research to inform lobbying and advocacy
Understand how to access and use existing data and undertake primary research to inform lobbying and advocacy work.
- Guide to publicly available data sources
- Campaign Research 101, Jessica Kendall
- Citizen generated data: toolkits and guides, CIVICUS
- How to do Research, Skills You Need website
- Research methodologies comparison sheet, Data Center
- Starting your research project worksheet, Data Center
- Data security protocols, Data Center
- Forming survey questions, Data Center
- The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods
Evaluating lobbying and advocacy
Understand how to evaluate the outcomes of lobbying and advocacy activities.
- Campaign Monitoring and Evaluation, Community Organising Fellowship
- 3 tools for advocacy evaluation, The Change Agency
- 3 templates for campaign evaluation, Australian Progress
Browse the Lobbying & Advocacy topic in the Commons Social Change Library.
Thanks to Emily De Rango who undertook the review and update of the Lobbying & Advocacy topic as a volunteer project. If you have additions or suggestions for this topic contact the Commons Librarians.
Topics: Collection:
- Advocacy
- Evaluation
- Government - Members of Parliament MP
- Government - Members of Parliament MP - Meeting
- Lobbying
- Petitions
- Policy
- Research
- Author: Emily De Rango
- Organisation: The Commons Library
- Location: Australia
- Release Date: 2020
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA
Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author