Business and community

On-demand course

In-House: A new approach

Many organisations believe that engaging with government requires hiring external help. But the most effective advocacy typically comes from within an organisation - from the people who know the issue best.

That’s why we created In-House, our flagship training course for the business and community sectors. We believe that with the right technical knowledge, your organisation can manage its own government relations – saving costs, retaining institutional knowledge, and building authentic relationships with decision-makers.

We are non-partisan. Our goal isn't to teach smoke and mirrors, or how to bypass the system. Instead, we teach you how to speak the same language as officials, ministers, and MPs. When the private and community sectors understand the machinery of government, it reduces friction, improves the quality of policy input, and leads to more effective conversations for everyone involved.

  • In-House: How to engage with government on policy and law

  • Available now - register below

  • 14 hours (8 on-demand sessions)

  • Flexible to suit work schedules

  • CPD verifiable: 14 hours

  • $1,150 + gst pp (business and sector bodies)

  • $750 + gst pp (NGOs, iwi, education, and community groups)

Register for this course

Course aim

We’ve created a training course that empowers organisations to ethically and confidently engage with government on policy and law.

In-House helps you build long-term internal capability, allowing you to advocate for yourself without needing to outsource your voice.

This isn’t a quick intro — it’s a comprehensive, 14-hour programme delivered over eight on-demand sessions. We cover the full spectrum of the NZ central government system: from the institutional foundations and the minister’s agenda, to the officials' policy process, Cabinet decision-making, and the tactical realities of select committee submissions.

Suitable for anyone in your organisation with responsibility for engaging with government — from subject-matter experts to the executive team and board — this course is a thorough, practical, and long-overdue resource for organisations wanting to engage on their own terms.

It pleases me that Ryan Malone, whose work I have known for years and encouraged, has pioneered In-House: How to engage with government on policy and law. Such knowledge and guidance are essential for anyone who wishes to deal with the complicated and intricate machine, the New Zealand government.

— Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer KC

Who is the course for?

Businesses: Small start-ups, mid-sized operations, or large companies - build your own capability rather than outsourcing.

NGOs and social service providers: Make sure your mission-driven voice is actually heard by the people who make decisions.

Sector groups and associations: Represent your members in a way that lands with officials and ministers.

Iwi and Māori organisations: Navigate the policy process to advocate effectively for your communities and interests.

Professional services: Lawyers, planners, and consultants looking to add practical political insight to their advice.

Academics and think tanks: Bridge the gap between research and policy to turn insights into tangible outcomes.

Local government: Understand how central government works so you can deliver better outcomes for your residents and ratepayers.

Anyone: No law or politics degree? No problem. We make the system easy to understand and accessible to everyone.

In-House: How to engage with government on policy and law

  • We break down the New Zealand system to explain how it evolved and how it works today. You’ll learn the roles of the three branches of government and understand why successful advocacy starts early.

    • The separation of powers: understanding the distinct lanes of the Executive, Parliament, and Judiciary

    • Ministers vs. Associate Ministers: who holds the delegation?

    • The Public sector: officials serving the 'government of the day'

    • The reality of power: why Cabinet is the engine room and Parliament is the watchdog

  • Influencing the minister’s agenda is the highest-leverage advocacy available. It has the power to greenlight projects or take them off the table entirely. In this session, we uncover the real drivers of political attention: the people, pressures, and events that lead ministers to prioritise one issue over another.

    • Political advisors: how to work with the 'gatekeepers' in a minister's office

    • Manifestos and coalition agreements: driving the real government work programme

    • Levers of influence: officials, working groups, inquiries, opposition parties, and court decisions

    • The catalyst: how international trends and crises can force policy change

  • When you understand the internal policy process, your advocacy becomes a constructive resource for officials, rather than just noise. This session demystifies how advice is actually built for ministers. We show you how to move beyond generic submissions and provide 'plug-and-play' input - evidence designed to slot directly into official analysis.

    • The 4-step process: How officials define problems, select options, and make recommendations

    • The Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS): A window into officials’ thinking

    • 'Plug-and-play' evidence: External input that slots directly into official advice

    • Consultation: Navigating formal vs. informal feedback loops

  • To influence outcomes, you must understand the arena where the final decision is made. This session lifts the lid on the 'black box' of Cabinet to reveal the rules of the game. You will build the political literacy required to engage credibly with a minister’s office.

    • Cabinet Committees: where the detailed debate and trade-offs happen

    • The '3 Cs': collective responsibility, confidentiality, and consultation (plus ‘agree-to-disagree’)

    • The 'report-back' loop: tracking 'in-principle' decisions through to final sign-off

    • Ministers outside Cabinet: understanding their disadvantage compared to the inner circle

  • This session targets the critical ‘pre-Cabinet window’ - the phase where the Lead minister consults colleagues to build the consensus needed for success. We show you how to navigate the wider ecosystem of influence, engaging beyond the Lead minister to reach Portfolio ministers, the Prime Minister’s Office, and coalition partners. Using a real-world case study, you will learn to build the strongest possible case by combining robust policy evidence with contextual intelligence.

    • The pre-Cabinet window: the most critical phase for strategic advocacy

    • The Prime Minister’s Office: distinguishing political triage (PMO) from policy triage (PAG)

    • The coalition factor: understanding the consultation requirements and trade-offs between partners

    • Case study: stress-testing a policy proposal before it reaches the Cabinet table

  • Many Cabinet decisions require a law change. While early engagement is ideal, Parliament remains an important battleground. This session teaches a strategic approach to supporting or challenging the minister’s legislation. We also explore members’ bills, showing how they provide a tactical opportunity to change the law or shape the government's agenda.

    • Government bills: supporting or opposing a minister’s bill

    • Members' bills: the 'biscuit tin' ballot and the tactical use of backbench legislation

    • Local & Private bills: specific pathways for councils and private entities

    • Conscience votes: when party discipline lifts and individual MPs are in play

  • The image of the select committee as an independent 'engine room' - where open-minded MPs refine laws based on public submissions - is largely mythology. In reality, the minister steers the process through a disciplined government majority. Put simply, the minister controls the bill. We show you how to advance amendments within this tightly controlled environment.

    • Submissions: why 'postcard' campaigns fail and technical drafting can succeed

    • Officials and the Departmental Report: the most important document in the whole process

    • The people factor: why knowing MPs’ backgrounds and positions can help frame arguments

    • The reality of control: why the minister, not the committee, typically steers the final amendments

  • The course concludes by bringing together the critical insights from every session. We ensure you leave with a clear, end-to-end view of the entire process and a consolidated framework for your future advocacy.

What we need is for businesses and sector groups to become better informed about the process of government and how they can contribute to government policy development, so they can do it for themselves. Up-skilling them to make a direct, proper, and effective contribution to government policy development, without the need for someone else to represent them, would be far more productive.

— Hon Peter Dunne CNZM, FIML, Newsroom (2023)

Your questions, answered

    • Corporate and sector bodies: $1,150 + gst per person

    • NGOs, iwi, education, and community groups: $750 + gst per person

    When you register, you can choose to pay by credit card or have an invoice sent to you.

  • Yes, you can purchase a team pack of 5 licences. Please email hello@civicsquare.co.nz and we will take care of the registrations and provide a single invoice for you.

    You have 18 months to activate the licences from the date of purchase. This allows you to activate some licences instantly for your current team and bank the remainder for future onboarding.

    Corporate and sector bodies: $4,250 + gst (equates to $850 per person, normally $1,150)

    NGOs, iwi, education, and community groups: $3,000 + gst (equates to $600 per person, normally $750)

  • Yes. Even though the sessions are on-demand, you can submit private questions to the facilitator using the ‘Submit Question’ function. Ryan reviews these queries regularly and will respond to you directly via email.

  • You will receive a welcome email giving you immediate access to Session 1. Please save this email, as it allows you to unlock Sessions 2–8 as you progress. If it doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder or contact us directly for assistance.

  • You can choose to pay immediately via credit card or request an invoice for your organisation. Simply select your preferred option during the registration process and we will handle the rest.

  • You have 6 months from registration to complete the course. You will also receive downloadable slides for each session to retain as a permanent reference.

  • Yes. To help maintain momentum, you can opt in to receive automated reminders if 7 days pass between sessions. Simply select this preference when you register.

  • Yes. In-House qualifies as 14 hours of verifiable CPD for New Zealand professionals. It provides structured, interactive learning with verified participation records and facilitator Q&A support.

    For example, it meets the continuing education requirements for lawyers (NZLS), accountants (CA ANZ), directors (IoD), engineers (EngNZ), and planners (NZPI).

    Note: Please retain your Certificate of Course Completion as evidence for your annual declaration.

  • Once you have completed the 8 sessions, please email hello@civicsquare.co.nz.

    We will send you a brief Completion Declaration where you confirm you have completed all the sessions. On receipt, we will issue your formal Certificate verifying your 14 CPD hours.

Register for this course