You can find your government representatives details by googling their name. Their email is publicly available. If you are considering raising a specific issue, such as Indigenous rights, you may choose to write to the Federal or State/Territory representative for that topic - such as the Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy. You can also cc in multiple ministers in your email. For example, if you are writing about Indigenous education, send your email to

• the Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians
• your State/Territory Minister for Indigenous Australians
• Federal Minister for Education
• your State/Territory Minister for Education
• your local representative (the government representative that holds the seat for where you live.

The more people see your email, the more likely they will be pressured to respond and act! Include in your email your interest in meeting with them for another opportunity to have a yarn and influence change.

Government also often holds consultation processes about different policy frameworks, projects and priorities they are interested in getting more information on. These consultation processes are called inquiries or commissions on various topics. These consultations offer opportunities to provide a ‘submission’ – a letter on your thoughts, evidence and argument around the topic. These submissions are used as formal evidence to support how the government moves forward on the topic – whether that be to inform a policy document, like Closing the Gap, an element of that, like how Closing the Gap collects data, or more broadly on how they respond to issues communities are facing like violence, health and safety.

How do to write a submission?‍

• Start with who you are and why you are writing the submission. This might look like defining your experience, interest or passion for the topic.
• Provide your argument and evidence for the topic. This might look like lived experience stories, statistics and/or research you’ve engaged with
• Offer recommendations. Give the government your solutions and suggestions for what they need to do next. This might be specific to your community or more general, such as “Invest in First Nations women’s collectives across the country.” When government has the answers, and multiple people have asked for the same action, it is more likely to become reality.

You can find what submissions are open here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Submissions_Open
Check the website regularly for new topics!