The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has released an update of the work of the Data Professional Stream Team, which is housed in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Director of the Data Professional Stream, Lisette Aarons said evidence from the APSC’s 2020 Employee Census rated data as the fourth highest capability gap across the service, from general literacy to professional skills.
“One quarter of employees who identified the gaps highlighted it was in their immediate work group,” Ms Aarons said.
“These results confirm the timely and invaluable role the Data Professional Stream can play to address this gap,” she said.
“To this end, the Team is continuing to work with our Australian Public Service (APS) partners to progress a number of exciting priority initiatives.”
Ms Aarons said that in addition to working on a beta data capability framework, to be released later this year, the Team was hosting a masterclass on Why data matters for over 40 senior executives from nine Agencies, to help them build skills and confidence to use data effectively in their leadership roles.
The Director said the Team would also launch a new project to learn more about the data professionals in the APS.
“Developing an employee value proposition to improve the employment experience of data professionals across the service is fundamental to success of the Data Professional Stream and will be used to develop an online membership platform,” she said.
“We will be seeking help through our APS Data Network and Data Graduate Network, so keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved.”
Ms Aarons said the Team would host a virtual and in-person event, based in Canberra, in September to mark one year since its formation.
