A practical guide to contemporary good practice in public policy development in Australia comprising two parts.

1. The McKinnon Policymaking Checklist: a list of practical questions to be used during policy projects.
2. The McKinnon Policymaking Guidance: more detailed information about actions to take within policy projects, to support the use of the checklist and understanding of policymaking processes.

While more comprehensive policymaking guides are available in the Australian context, this guide is intentionally simplified. It is a practical tool – to be used rather than studied – and is particularly aimed at supporting practitioners who are newish to the policymaking process.

These resources are intended to be used by policy practitioners (including public servants, consultants, advocacy groups) within policy projects and can serve as a:

• checklist to follow when working on policy (such as drafting a business case), to improve the quality and rigour of the policy being developed
• checklist to follow when reviewing policy (such as a central agency reviewing cabinet submissions or business cases), to ensure that all stages of the process have been adequately followed and limit the risk of poor policymaking leading to adverse outcomes
• general training tool to inform understanding of the policymaking process, providing a concise overview of policymaking relative to more technical policy guides.

For further resources on good practice policymaking, see the McKinnon Policymaking Tools Topic in Focus.