While Australian politics may not have the same showmanship as the Donald Trump show, keeping abreast of the movements in federal politics is important to understand if or how decisions may impact you or your organisation.

1.  Understand the Key Issues

Understanding the political landscape is key to preparation. With so much going on, there is understanding the issues that matter to you directly but also understanding the landscape in which you are advocating or positioning yourself. Does your issue impact the national debate, is it something that voters will care about? Or is it a part of an issue - a solution that can be integrated into an election policy that will assist the 48^th Government to deliver the agenda?

2. Stay Informed with Reliable News Sources – At Work and at Home

While the broader public’s trust in media and institutions continues to wane, organisations and leaders need to ensure that they look to both their personal and professional interests in following politics – the best advocates are pragmatic.

Read widely, garnering all perspectives – from The Australian to The Guardian. Podcasts are a helpful tool to listen on the go and understand areas and issues in more depth - Politics with Michelle Grattan, The Party Room, 7am, Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny, Serious Danger, Punters Politics, New Politics, or The Yarn with Senator Andrew Bragg are some popular podcasts. Longer form pieces assist in getting into issues in more detail – better known magazines are The Monthly or The Spectator Australia, News Weekly, and Quadrant or online news website Capital Brief. Released quarterly, The Quarterly Essay is a great publication that goes into detail on key issues.

3. Politics & Polling

Another way to engage is watching the politicians direct. This can be through the National Press Club, media conferences and doorstops, or during the election, the debates. These are often broadcast by networks like ABC and Sky News.

You can also fact-check any political claims using trusted sources like AAP Factcheck, FactCheck, or RMIT Factlab.

At a more analytical level, stay up to date and informed by reading the latest election polls from PollBludger, a great summary of national political polling.

When you’re watching politics with one eye on what happens to the country and another eye on what happens to your organisation, pragmatism is key. Outlined above is just a sample of publicly available sources of information to help you or your organisation keep track of the landscape as it evolves over the next six months.

While a basic premise, the more you understand about the politics of the day, the better you will be at managing it.

‍