Constitutional and Government Systems and Processes (Developing)

70% on-the-job learning

• Read the resources on the New Zealand Parliament website, particularly the section How Parliament works.
• Develop your understanding of the roles of the executive, legislature, and judicial branches – the ‘machinery of government’ (see System Design).
• Take a tour of Parliament. Watch the House debate the different stages of a Bill. Watch select committee hearings including public consultation hearings on Bills, Crown financial accounts or other business.
• Tour the National Library. View Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Read key guidance documents associated with policy papers and legislation or regulatory papers (e.g. the Cabinet Manual and CabGuide and Standing Orders).
• Learn about your agency’s processes for commissioning, peer review and other quality control mechanisms.
• Contribute to the production of a range of policy products, such as briefings, Cabinet papers and ministerials.
• Assist with a Cabinet process or select committee process.
• Learn about the role, boundaries and accountability of a public servant. Read the Public Service Commission’s A guide on integrity and conduct, factsheets on free and frank advice and policy stewardship.
• Assist with a response to a written or oral Parliamentary question.
• Familiarise yourself with key legislation such as the Public Finance Act, Public Service Act, Crown Entities Act, Official Information Act, Privacy Act, New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, and Public Records Act. Do induction modules in your organisation, if they exist.
• Read Treasury guidance, circulars and instructions (e.g. Impact Analysis Requirements and Better Business Cases).
• Read about public policy in New Zealand (e.g. Public Policy in New Zealand (Shaw and Eichbaum 2011) or New Zealand Government and Politics (Miller 2010).
• Read key documents with commentary on the Māori Crown relationship, such as the Waitangi Tribunal’s 2011 report Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, Puao Te Ata Tu: The Report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare (June 1986) and the summary of submissions from the Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti 2018 engagement process.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Project’s Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance developed by Te Arawhiti – The Office for Māori Crown Relations, on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty of Waitangi to policy development and implementation.
• Visit He Tohu | National Library in person to view the constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa New Zealand.

20% learning from others 

• Learn from senior staff about the lessons they have acquired from the policy process, and how you could apply those lessons to your work.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings with the minister or other agencies.
• Work with a senior colleague to draft a timeline for a policy process involving Cabinet decisions, legislation or regulations.

10% formal learning

• Introductory courses on machinery of government, Cabinet Office guidance, legislative processes, and select committees. For example:
  • Policy to Legislation by the Office of the Clerk
  • Introduction to Parliament and Select Committees by the Office of the Clerk
  • Machinery of Government by Civic Square
  • Parliament’s Financial Scrutiny Cycle by the Office of the Clerk
  • Civic Square’s modules:
    • Module 1: The Big Picture – An overview of NZ government
    • Module 2: The Executive – Ministers, Cabinet and the State sector
    • Module 3: Help, I have an Official Information Act request!
  • Effective Policy Analysis and Development by Brightstar
  • Impact Analysis Requirements by the Treasury.
• Specific induction training, including the Public Service Commission’s online modules Tikanga whakauru mahi a te Ratonga Tūmatanui | Public Service Induction.
• Complete the online e-learning modules developed by the Government Chief Privacy Officer and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.