Governments are second only to customers in their ability to influence a company's economic value. For consulting firms, governments are often both client and regulator. This gives them double the influence.

Getting up close and personal with government makes good business sense. It is a core component of corporate strategy and risk management – and applies to businesses of all sizes. 

More than a decade ago Geoff Allen AO, Chair of the Centre for Corporate Public Affairs, made an acute observation that has always stayed with me. Some companies, Geoff suggested, adopt a “low target strategy” in their relationships with government and avoid interaction with policy makers and regulators. 

“Attempting to ‘fly under the radar’ lessens a company’s ability to shape agendas, to defend a company against others seeking to define it and relevant issues to suit themselves, to correct disinformation, and to under-leverage good stories and capitalise on public relations opportunities,” Geoff, the foundation CEO of the Business Council of Australia, said. 

Geoff’s words came back to me recently during a recent Future Leaders Program forum. We were exploring the importance of relationships with government and how emerging industry leaders can strengthen their ‘advocacy muscles’.

Consult Australia represents an industry including over 58,000 businesses in the built and natural environment sector, ranging from sole practitioners to some of Australia’s top 500 firms. Collectively, these businesses employ around 288,000 people and generate $18 billion a year in revenue.

These are large numbers. But it’s not just size that matters. No other industry has the expertise to directly advise government and add value to policy across so many portfolios critical to national economic growth and productivity. Climate change and the renewable energy transition, infrastructure planning, design and delivery, urban development, adaptation and resilience, defence and resources all fall within our firms’ remit. Consequently, government is a major client. 

The value of the services that our firms provide is often under appreciated. Most parliamentarians and policymakers have backgrounds unrelated to the industries represented by Consult Australia. Just 9% of our current federal parliamentarians are qualified in science or engineering, for instance, and one politician has an architecture degree. The story is similar at the state and territory level: the presence of former architects, engineers or other related professionals can generally be counted on one hand, if at all. 

Consult Australia’s work as a voice for the industry raises its profile and supports a better operating environment for every business. But alongside our work, there is an opportunity for our member firms to strengthen their own external affairs efforts.

I’m reminded of research published by McKinsey in 2011 which is still relevant today. After surveying more than 1,400 company CEOs, McKinsey identified five different attitudes towards government broadly divided down the middle into two groups. ‘Opportunists’ and ‘partners’ believe policy and regulation generate new business opportunities and provide broader business benefits. ‘Avoiders’, ‘reluctant engagers’ and ‘adversaries’, on the other hand, take a negative view.

McKinsey found ‘partners’, followed by ‘opportunists’, were most likely to succeed at influencing government decisions, and felt their opinions were sought and valued by government policy makers. Into which category could your collective attitude be categorised? What is the likely impact of that attitude on your business strategy?

As the industry advocate, Consult Australia works hard as both a ‘partner’ and an ‘opportunist’ on behalf of all member firms and the wider industry. Your valuable contribution, through direct advocacy and policy roundtables, underpins our success in driving better policy outcomes.

At a time when Australians are disillusioned with democracy, industry advocacy is how the next generation of leaders can positively and proactively engage with government to make a difference.

So, take your seat at the table. We welcome all voices.