About Access Democracy

Democracy works best when everyone gets heard and can be involved. The trouble is, most of us were never taught how to do this. 

We might visit Canberra as a school kid, and vote every few years, but few ever learn how to actually get an MP to listen to us, a minister's office to respond, or a government department to take an issue seriously.

Access Democracy exists to close that gap.

We help individuals, businesses, not-for-profits and community groups in Australia understand how government really works, and how to engage with it effectively. 

That might mean giving a regional industry group guidance on how to write a submission that actually gets read by decision makers, helping a small business understand who to talk to about a local issue, or providing tips to frustrated individuals on how to write to their MPs so they get a meaningful response. 

We also develop government engagement plans and advocacy strategies, and help organisations build the skills and confidence to implement them themselves, so they don’t need to pay professional lobbyists. Whatever the starting point, our job is to make the system less intimidating and our clients more confident and effective.

We're not a lobbying firm and we're not aligned to any political party. Our focus is helping people understand the system and engage with it confidently and effectively.

We believe every person and every organisation, regardless of size or connections, has the right to be heard by the people who make decisions and those that represent them. Our work is about building capability and confidence, one conversation, workshop or resource at a time.

Be involved. Be heard. Be influential.

We exists to make democracy accessible, equitable and strong

We are building Access Democracy as a social enterprise. We are working towards verification by People and Planet First.

The problem we exist to solve

Many people and organisations find it hard to engage effectively with their governments and elected representatives, while better resourced groups do. This unequal access means some voices are heard more than others, and it is contributing to people losing faith in democracy.

Our purpose

We build the skills, knowledge and confidence of individuals, small businesses, not-for-profits and community groups, particularly those who are often left out of government decision making, so they can engage with their governments and elected representatives themselves. When more people can be involved, be heard and be influential, democracy is stronger for everyone.

How we put purpose, people and planet before profit

As a new business, these are commitments we are building into how we operate from day one, and we will report on them as we grow.

• We are a for-profit, for-purpose business. We earn our income through training, resources and advice, so our work is sustained by trade rather than gifts or donations
• We will reinvest more than half of any profit into our purpose, through free resources and low cost or pro bono support for people and groups who could not otherwise afford it
• We offer discounted rates to other social enterprises and to organisations with clear social or environmental objectives
• We are non-partisan. We build people's own capability rather than lobbying on  anyone's behalf
• We minimize our environmental footprint and maximize social benefits where possible

I'm Anna Glasby, the founder of Access Democracy.

I've spent 25 years working in and for government, in policy, planning, communications, and stakeholder engagement roles that involved connecting communities, industry and the public with government. Along the way I kept noticing the same thing: so many good people and good organisations had something worth saying, but were not able to say it in a way that reached the decision makers.

Access Democracy is my answer to that. 

I started it because I wanted to take what I know about how government and stakeholder engagement actually works and put this knowledge directly into the hands of the people who need it most, not just the big players who can afford a government relations team or professional lobbyists.

I'm based in Newcastle NSW but have lived and work in many areas of Australia, including the biggest cities and rural towns. I am passionate about regional communities getting a fair share of attention and influence. When I'm not working on Access Democracy, I do freelance community engagement consulting, advocate for the survival of my local swimming pool, and spend as much time in nature as I can.

If you've ever felt like the system wasn't built for people like you, then you are exactly the kind of person I created Access Democracy for.