Dealing with government departments

Mark McIlroy

1 October 2025



1. Here are my suggestions for getting success when dealing with government departments.


2. Be polite at all times. If you threaten staff then they have authority to cut off contact with you and your problem will not be progressed.


3. Be patient. Answer all their questions paitently.


4. Don't lie.


5. Be proactive. By this I mean that you will have to contact them, not wait until they contact you. Government departments deal with millions of customers and sometimes issues get lost. If you wait you will be waiting forever.

Three to four weeks is a good time to wait until you call them again. Keep calling every four weeks until your problem is solved.


6. If there is an excessive delay, submit a formal complaint through the department's formal complaint channels. This is often a good way to get your problem resolved.


7. Keep records of every document that you send them.