The Government Relations discipline in Asia Pacific evolved from the early efforts of corporations to influence customs, tariffs, and tax policy.

In early days of the discipline in the 1950s and 1960s, former public servants and middle managers focused on regulation and compliance with it, while board directors and the CEO/president used their relationships with elected officials to seek influence and input to public policy (known as the ‘insiders game’).

In the 1990s government relations/affairs evolved into an area of practice as corporations began to develop their own government relations and capabilities instead of relying solely on the lobbying and government relations consultants and relationships board members and senior management had with elected legislators.

The ranks of government relations practitioners include many former Ministerial/Cabinet member advisors, former public/civil servants, and former political journalists.

Today, the Government Relations discipline is a key part of most integrated corporate public affairs functions. In Australia – and similarly across the rest of Asia Pacific – almost 80 per cent of corporations report they manage a government relations discipline in the corporate public affairs function (2019-2020 State of Public Affairs in Australia).

Government Relations practitioners most frequently develop strategy that guides engagement with public servants with policy and regulatory roles, regulators, Ministers, other elected representatives, industry associations, and policy and political opinion leaders.

They coordinate execution of that strategy, including acting as the bridge between the organisation and the arms of the machinery of government, public policy arenas, and industry and business groups and associations.

The Government Relations teams also provides ongoing counsel about public policy options and their consequences to the company’s senior managers, and contribute, via the corporate public affairs function, to whole-of-organisational strategy.