PSY2071 | 2025
(DELETE THE RED TEXT AS YOU FILL IN THE ASSESSMENT)
Briefing to Stakeholder on
Developmental Science Tools
Prepare a policy brief addressed to the Minister for Education, Australian Government,
recommending the implementation of inattention screening for all children at school entry.
This brief should be written as if you are a Policy Advisor named in the document.
A brief for the Minister for Education, Australian Government seeking approval for
screening inattention in all children at school entry. Recommended by [insert student
name], Policy Advisor
Purpose (50 words max, no 10% leeway) (5 marks)
Summarise the key purpose of the brief and the key information on the topic. Clearly explain
why the Minister is being briefed and what action you are recommending. Keep your
message clear and persuasive.
Example opening:
This brief requests the Minister’s approval for…..
Critical Analysis (850 words max, no 10% leeway) (80 marks)
This is the main and longest section of the brief. Your aim is to persuade the Minister by
providing a clear, evidence-based analysis of the one key policy issue. It is important to keep
the target audience in mind when evaluating what information needs to be included.
● What does your audience know about the issue already?
● What new information would provide insight to the key issue?
● Why is change needed?
Structure your analysis under the following subsections.
1.1 Current policy (~265 words, 25 marks)
Include a short overview of the current policy that is being critiqued (i.e., no inattention
symptom screening) and illustrate why this approach is inadequate, e.g., by using evidence
from current scientific literature. It should be made clear what needs to be changed. Only
cover the most important and persuasive points here.
1.2 New policy (~585 words, 35 marks)
Describe the proposed new policy to be implemented (i.e., introduction of inattention
symptom screening for all children entering primary school). Highlight at least five key
strengths and limitations of the proposed new policy (e.g., if your recommendation(s) have
any financial impact, summarise this here under a subheading). It should be made clear what
the significance of the new policy is.
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● Use descriptive subheadings that capture each argument/reason (10 marks) - The
subheadings help to summarise the argument being made. The assumption should be
made that the target audience (i.e., the Minister) does not have time to read a lot of
text, so the brief should be formatted clearly with descriptive subheadings. This will
allow the audience (i.e., the Minister) to understand the topic, analysis and
recommendations, because they can scan the key points of the argument. They can
also navigate more effectively to the supporting evidence under each subheading.
● Stakeholders (10 marks) - Address how different stakeholders are implicated in the
new policy, e.g., educators, caregiver(s), the child, and/or others.
Tips for writing this section :
o Refer to current evidence (scientific papers published in the last 10 years) -
This section should be persuasive, practical and well-researched in order to
make timely evidence-based recommendations. A big part of convincing your
target audience is to support your key message and your ideas with evidence,
e.g., evidence should be used to indicate that there is an issue with existing
policy (or lack of) and to make recommendations.
o Structure your writing by your reasoning – i.e., ask yourself why the audience
(i.e., the Minister) should support your recommendation(s), and consider a
‘because’ statement for each reason.
Recommendations (100 words max, no 10% leeway) (5 marks)
This section is where you detail what changes need to be made to existing policy in light of
the limitations you outlined in the Critical Analysis.
● Present a list of 2-5 practical recommendations that need to be approved or noted by
the target audience (i.e., the Minister) to address the issue (i.e., implementation of the
new policy).
● The required recommendations for the brief are bolded and followed by the
recommendation reason (e.g., Approve and sign the attached contract). Supported by
checkboxes aligned right of page for each recommendation stated.
For example:
That the Minister for Education:
1. Approve the inattention symptom screener for all primary school children
2. Approve funding for the inattention symptom screening measure
3. Note the top five issues outlined in the Critical Analysis section
Reference List (Not included in word count) (5 marks)
Provide a list of the references you cite in your Briefing Report. Use APA 7th edition format.
Presentation (5 marks)
● Use 12-point font (Times New Roman) with single spacing
● Within word limits
● No spelling mistakes
● Good grammar
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● Language is accessible – use language that is familiar to the target audience in a clear
and simple manner.
● All red text deleted
Appendix | Acknowledgement and
Documentation of AI Use.
Acknowledgement of AI use
Very briefly explain the ways that you have used AI in the production of this assessment.
● Explain which AI tools you have used and for what purposes.
● If you have found and used tools on your own, explain why these tools were selected
and provide a URL link to the tool.
● Note the number of iterations undertaken with each main AI collaborative tool.
● Describe what output from the tool/service has been included, and where.
● Summarise how you have altered, adopted, or built on the AI output.
Legend: [1] AI system(s); [2] link to the tool; [3] how the tool was used or prompts included;
[4] output included in the task [5] edits and changes made to the output.
Documenting AI Use
You will need to provide evidence of how you used AI in your writing process for this
assessment. You need to include copies of drafts used in the preparation of the
assessment, as well as notes on how prompts were integrated and adapted. One
recommendation is to colour-code or annotate drafts to show sections where AI has been
included or adapted alongside your own writing.
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