Effective Policy Essentials

Building technical expertise in crafting, implementing, and evaluating policy

Developing effective policy requires more than a simple rote understanding of the policy development process.

It must be concerned with real-world problem-solving delivered in a volatile, complex, and ambiguous system, in which the Government of the day and the officials of the APS are only two of many stakeholders that must be understood and whose views must be addressed.

Marc Ablong, former Deputy Secretary within the Australian Department of Home Affairs, will lead participants through the fundamentals of effective policy-making. Marc’s experience spans 31 years working at a senior level in the Australian Public Service, including 25 years working across defence policy portfolios.

The course will provide a grounding in the theory and practice of policy-making, provide exemplars of good and bad policy-making, and provide tools for developing good policy, evaluating policy options for their intended, unintended, and perverse outcomes, and writing effectively for decision-makers.

*NB: this masterclass will reference and draw from the Australian Policy Handbook (APH)

Meet your facilitator

Marc Ablong PSM

Managing Partner, Geostrategic Risk Partners

Marc left the Australian Public Service in 2024 after a 31-year career that culminated as a Deputy Secretary within the Australian Department of Home Affairs, where he held responsibility for various portfolios.

Before joining the Department of Home Affairs, Marc was a senior executive with 25 years within the Australian Department of Defence. Marc is a graduate of the Joint Services Staff College (1997), the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies (2002) and the Advanced Management Program 190 (2016) at the Harvard Business School. Marc was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2018 Australia Day Honours