Electorate and Liaison Officers
Manage the electorate offices of politicians and establish and facilitate communication between individuals, community groups, organisations and governments.
A Monday in the electorate office
You are an electorate officer running a local member's office. The member is in parliament this week, so you are the face of the office. It is Monday morning. The phone has been ringing since eight, a community group is coming at eleven and a local reporter has just emailed. You are the one who has to decide what happens first.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I've been waiting months for the council to fix the drain outside my house and nobody cares! Your member does nothing! I want something done today, and I want you to promise it!
Promise him you will have it fixed by the end of the week to calm him down
He hangs up pleased. But you cannot make a council act, and when nothing happens, he has a new grievance and a broken promise to quote. Never promise what you do not control.
Let him finish, take the details, explain what the office can and cannot do, and promise to follow up and call back
He calms down once he feels heard. You raise it with the right council officer and call him back. He is still impatient, but he knows someone is on it.
Tell him the drain is a council matter, not the member's, and that he should call the council and keep asking until they act
It is true, and he goes away unhappy. He has already tried the council. A little help finding the right person would have cost you a few minutes and kept his trust.
The local paper wants a comment on the new rail timetable and the member is away. Put out something strong saying the plan will 'cut travel times in half'. I think that's roughly right.
Check the timetable details first, write what can be backed up, and send it to the member to approve
The statement is accurate, but it misses the paper's deadline by an hour and a rival comment goes in first. Being right matters, though speed is also part of the job.
Send it as written, since Ray works closely with the member, probably knows the figures and has never steered you wrong
A reporter checks the figure and finds it is not supported. The correction is embarrassing and the office looks careless. A statement under the member's name has to stand up.
Check the facts, draft a version that you can support, and get the member's quick approval by phone before it goes out
The member approves a slightly more modest line within minutes. It makes the deadline and nobody can fault it. Checking quickly is a habit worth building in this job.
We've both asked the member to speak at the same event on Saturday, but we're on opposite sides of the local hall dispute. Whoever the member picks, the other will be furious. What should we tell our people?
Choose the group that has been most supportive, and tell the other group the diary is full
It might work for a day. But the other group finds out the truth, feels deceived and tells the paper. An electorate office serves everyone, not only its friends.
Tell them both the member cannot attend either and leave it there
It is fair, but it gives neither group anything and leaves the dispute untouched. You protect the member but miss a chance to help the community.
Be open that you have two requests, check the diary and offer both groups a chance to meet the member separately
Both groups accept the offer, a little grudgingly. Each gets a hearing and nobody is deceived. You work for the whole electorate, including people who disagree with each other.
How it went
By the end of the day you have calmed a caller, protected the member's name and kept two rival groups talking. Working in an electorate office means helping everyone fairly, being honest about what you can do and keeping your cool when people are cross. Does that sound like a good way to serve a community?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The pension that stopped
A fictional case set in a busy electorate office in a country town, working for a local member of parliament.
The situation
Tamsin ran the day to day work of an electorate office in a country town. One Monday Mr Harb, an older man who had never asked for help before, came in with a handful of letters. His payment from a government agency had stopped three weeks earlier, and nobody could tell him why. He had been on hold on the phone for hours. He was proud, polite and clearly worried about his rent. Tamsin could not order anyone to fix it, and she could not promise an outcome.
What they did
Tamsin listened to the whole story first, took copies of his letters with his permission and wrote a clear summary of the problem and what he had already tried. She sent it through the proper channel for members' offices to raise cases with the agency, and she told Mr Harb honestly that it might take a while. She rang him in the middle of the week with the case number and an update, even though there was no news, and put him in touch with a local community support service for short term help.
How it turned out
The agency found that a form had been misfiled. The payment was restored and the missed amount was paid. Mr Harb stopped by the next month with a box of lemons from his tree. Tamsin added a note to the office's process about checking in with people while they wait.
What would you do?
- Why did Tamsin ring Mr Harb when she had no news?
- How do you stay kind to someone when you cannot promise a result?
- What do you think it would be like to hear people's problems every day?