Executive education online: Fundamentals of intergovernmental management

Officials play a vital role in supporting the federal system and its functions. But there’s no how-to manual for this important role; the rules, whether formal or informal, have to be learned ‘on the job’. 

This course focuses on the daily workplace challenges of interjurisdictional problem solving under conditions of high uncertainty and complexity. The course gives Commonwealth, state and territory public servants an understanding of the craft of intergovernmental management, including its formal and informal settings and routines, the interests and strategies that must be negotiated and how public servants contribute to the federal system’s stability and resilience, on the one hand, and adjustment and change on the other. 

Key topics include:

• What is federalism, and why does it matter? 
• Characteristics of Australia’s federation and their implications for intergovernmental management 
• Commonwealth and state government roles and objectives 
• Why and how intergovernmental relations and intergovernmental management are different 
• ‘Wearing Four Hats’: the role of the public service in the federal context 
• Intergovernmental management and the formal structures of the federation
• Rules and tools in multilateral bargaining and negotiating 
• Informal intergovernmental routines: committee work; agendas and minutes; policy work 
• Managing networks 
• Building trust 
• Implications of the changing context for the craft of intergovernmental management: the new governance, digital governance, information age federalism 

At a glance

Format: Online

Duration: 4 weeks (excluding orientation)

Commitment: 3-5 hours per week

Cost: $1,495 (or $1,195 for early bird registrations by 9 September)

Start/end date: 9 - 30 October 2025 with a course orientation / meet and greet on 2 October

Group discounts available.

Course curriculum

• Module 1 The control dials of the federal system
• Module 2 ‘Swimming between the flags’: navigating formal structures and routines in intergovernmental management
• Module 3 ‘From l-a-w to l-o-r-e’: the informal craft of intergovernmental management
• Module 4 The practice modes of intergovernmental management

Session schedule

This course will run as an online and distance program in 2025. It is scheduled to run across four weeks, 9 - 30 October 2025 with a course orientation / meet and greet on 2 October. Specific dates and times to note in your diary are as follows:

• 10:00-11:00am Thursday 2 October 2025 - course introduction, meet and greet 
• 10:00-11:30am Thursday 9 October 2025 
• 10:00-11:30am Thursday 16 October 2025 
• 10:00-11:30am Thursday 23 October 2025 
• 10:00-11:30am Thursday 30 October 2025 
• optional individual post-course mentoring session to be scheduled separately 

Note: Dates and times are in Canberra time (AEST before 5 October, and AEDT after). The calendar invite for each session should automatically adjust to your timezone when you add it to your calendar. You can check at a site like this to be sure.

Learning outcomes

• consider the range of interests, strategies and views they are likely to encounter in their intergovernmental work; how and why these other perspectives have emerged
• consider a range of policy instruments and approaches

Who is this course for?

The course would be of primary benefit for middle managers (APS6 – EL2/SES1) embarking on, or already working on policy development and implementation in an interjurisdictional setting. The content is relevant to public servants in the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, and officials in statutory authorities who are developing or implementing policies that involve their counterparts in central and line departments.