Regulators across Australia can now increase their skills and professional knowledge with the launch of the new ‘Professional Regulator’ program.
The program, a partnership between the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), National Regulators Community of Practice and the Australian National University’s RegNet, focuses on the common challenges faced by regulators.
A recently-completed pilot of the initial course involved 100 regulators, helping to fine-tune content and delivery. Expressions of interest are now open for the full program beginning in July.
A member of the pilot program was Bundaberg-based Emma Street, who works for the Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water.
Mrs Street, a Senior Water Officer in the Department’s Monitoring and Compliance Division, said the Professional Regulators program was something “that is missing in our field, and it’s encouraging that there is work being done to bridge that gap”.
She said there was a very real gap between having a law degree, and doing compliance.
“I feel I needed something to substantiate my skill-set, and this provided the perfect opportunity,” Mrs Street said.
The Professional Regulator course is self-paced and includes six 90-minute online modules.
In addition, participants also have the opportunity to access six online small-group seminars which extend key learnings from the modules and to explore Australian-based case studies in depth.
The program is designed to eventually cater for early, mid-to-senior-level regulators from all levels of Government and regulatory spheres, with Foundation, Extension, Expert and Leader versions.
Mrs Street said she found the content engaging and enjoyed both the self-paced units and the chance to talk in depth with fellow regulators during the seminar component.
“The units got me to turn my mind to seeing things from a different perspective, and it was really good to get that breadth of information about the shared challenges of regulators in other areas,” she said.
“The seminar was really good — there was only one other regulator from Queensland and it was awesome to hear other members of the cohort talk about how they approached things in other jurisdictions.”
