Everyone in government writes. We do not just write for our Parliamentary or Public Service colleagues. We write for the Australian public.
Writing to inform, educate and engage. We must always remember to write with our readers in mind. Clear, concise and consistent writing is essential.
Ensuring that government content is effective and useful. It underpins government services that Australians can rely on. Improving the way we write helps Australians today and tomorrow.
It is this spirit that sees this new resource launched. The Government Writing Handbook is a companion to the Australian Government Style Manual. And it can sit on the desk of public servants, just like the weightier Style Manual once did.
Full of examples and handy editor’s tips. It covers many of the style elements people use most often in government writing.
Personal history of the Style Manual
I am one of those Australians helped by the Style Manual. As a university student, I had a copy of the sixth edition on my desk. It was not a bound official version. It was a PDF print out.
The Style Manual was a source I could rely on. It improved my written work and helped me write with confidence.
Today, it still feels like an old friend who is always there when needed. The first edition of the Style Manual was published in 1966. And it was a genuine and nerdy thrill to hold a copy when I visited the Style Manual team at the Australian Public Service Commission.
The bigger picture
The publication of the first Style Manual was just one of many changes happening across the country in 1966. Then, Australia’s population was 11,540,764. Our nation was becoming much more multicultural.
In 1966, the Australian Government introduced new laws so that the same rules applied to all people migrating to Australia. It was the end of the White Australia Policy. That same year, about 200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families initiated strike action at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory. And in my community of Perth, anti-Vietnam War protesters marched from the Perth GPO along St Georges Terrace to the Perth Esplanade.
These events reverberate today. They have shaped Australia.
The publication of the Style Manual’s first edition also reverberates. Just more quietly and on a smaller scale. Nevertheless, the manual has helped Australian writers for over 58 years. The Government Writing Handbook continues that tradition.
History and launching at Australian Parliament House
It is fitting to launch the Government Writing Handbook here at Parliament House today. In his foreword of the first edition in 1966, Prime Minister Harold Holt noted that the manual ‘had its genesis’ in the 1964 report of a parliamentary Joint Select Committee.
At the official launch of the fourth edition (1988), The Hon Stewart West, Minister for Administrative Services, said:
‘Readers will note that the whole manual is written in non-sexist language.
'Thus the words used do not imply, for example, that a typesetter is always a man or that a typist is always a woman, as was the case in previous editions.’
The sixth edition (2002) saw the introduction of '… detailed advice on publishing in both print and electronic formats.'
Over the years, portfolio ministers have described the Style Manual as a ‘trend setter’ and as having become ‘... firmly established as a standard work of reference in its field.’
The Style Manual today
The Style Manual is now in its seventh edition. It was published in 2020 as a digital product, and is regularly updated. It is free and searchable.
Today, the Style Manual is widely used across all levels of government and the broader community. Around 25,000 users access it each week.
The manual is written by a small team of specialists at the APSC. Members of the Governance Board and Working Group have joined us here today.
The Style Manual Working Group consists of members from over 30 Australian Government agencies. I thank each of them for every comma, capitalisation and conjunction.
Digital edition foreword
I was pleased to write the foreword for the Style Manual and the Government Writing Handbook. In it, I reflect that the Style Manual is not for the public service alone. It is also for the Australian people – who expect and deserve clear communication.
The manual’s companion – the Government Writing Handbook – will also help APS writers deliver content that meets the needs of Australians.
The creators of the first Style Manual could not have envisioned a searchable digital manual. But as history shows, their focus was undoubtedly to serve government and the Australian public.
Conclusion
Congratulations to the Style Manual team and the authors, Leanne and Cath, on this addition to the Style Manual suite of products. The Style Manual and the handbook are excellent resources and I encourage you to use them.
The handbook will help you write with purpose, relate to your readers and make your meaning clear. I take great pleasure in launching the Government Writing Handbook.