Trainer Kym Viant is a leadership development expert who will present the online APS 5-6 Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving event from 25 — 26 August. Photo: Supplied.
APS Leadership Edge
Date: 4 May, 2026 — 30 April, 2027
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Duration: The program spans 10 months. A minimum of one hour a fortnight is required, with some periods requiring up to five hours a fortnight to complete learning sprints.
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
APS Leadership Edge is a cohort-based social learning program that will enable EL 2s to develop their leadership and management skills through a range of learning sprints and activities.
The program will provide opportunities to embed learnings through practical application and expand professional networks across the APS through discussions in a large cohort and small-group activities. All work is done virtually and delivered flexibly to enable EL2s to participate regardless of where they are or what they do.
This learning experience has been provided by the APS Academy, and the content is suitable for EL 2 and high-performing EL 1s with supervisor support.
Procurement Risk Management
Date: 5 May
Time: 9 am — noon
Duration: Three-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Consistent with the scope, complexity and scale of a procurement activity, identifying and engaging with risk ensures risk management principles are applied systematically to the process. This is to identify and manage all risks, specifically technical and commercial ones, to deliver the requirement and value contracted for.
Learn to effectively apply risk management principles to identify, assess, manage, and mitigate risk to deliver required procurement outcomes.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance, and the content is suitable for all staff. The course will benefit officials undertaking, or expecting to undertake, procurement activities, whether regularly or on an ad hoc basis.
Providing Effective Secretariat Support
Date: 5 — 6 May
Time: 1:30 pm — 4:30 pm
Duration: Two three-hour face-to-screen sessions
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This course covers the role of the secretariat when working across government, jurisdictions, teams and stakeholder groups. Examine the protocols of secretariats. Learn to coordinate and prepare meeting agendas. Appreciate how to contribute to committee effectiveness and prepare appropriate documents.
This content has been provided by a third party in consultation with the APS Academy. The content is suitable for APS 3 — EL 2 and APS employees performing secretariat duties.
NSW Public Sector Grades 9-10 Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving
Date: 5 — 6 May
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Unpack critical thinking as a mental process and set of action steps to address everyday problems.
- Discover practical tools and outcome-driven models.
- Clearly define problems and evaluate the impact of solutions.
- Use collaborative approaches to identify and resolve issues.
- Overcome common roadblocks and practise continuous reflection.
Effective Communication
Date: 5 — 7 May
Time: 9:30 am — 12:30 pm & 9:30 am — 1 pm
Duration: Two three-hour and one 3.5-hour, face-to-screen sessions
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Note: This course was previously named Compelling Communication. Almost everything we do in the workplace involves communication and our overall job effectiveness is strongly influenced by how well we communicate. In the APS, we require the ability to present information clearly, concisely and in a compelling manner, going to the heart of the issue with speed and clarity.
Effective communication is about being able to deliver strategic and operational information quickly and clearly to a specific target audience or individual. As such, effective communication takes into account the needs and characteristics of the specific audience.
Participants should bring two current samples of their writing when they attend. These may be emails, briefs, reports, or other writing from the workplace. Editing practice can be applied directly to their own work. All writing remains confidential and will not be shared or discussed.
This content has been provided by the APS Academy, and is suitable for APS 1 — EL 2.
Ending Coercive Control, Family & Domestic Violence SA
Date: 6 — 7 May
Time: 9 am — 5:30 pm
Location: Hotel Grand Chancellor Adelaide
Email: [email protected]
Turning recommendations into action, shaping systems and driving progress. South Australia stands at a crucial crossroads in tackling domestic and family violence — now actively turning the South Australian Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence’s calls to action into concrete change, including new laws targeting coercive control.
This conference will deliver hands-on strategies and expert guidance to help stakeholders understand coercive control legislation and other key reforms across policy, practice, and frontline services.
Through keynotes, panels and interactive sessions, you will gain a clearer understanding of the new legal landscape, how to strengthen cross-sector responses, and ways to embed trauma-informed, culturally safe practices.
More than 30 practitioners and experts will offer insights and guidance on integrating lived experience into service design, improving reporting pathways, and measuring meaningful impact. This event is a focused opportunity to build capability, align approaches and prepare for the changes ahead.
SES Orientation Program
Date: 5 May — 18 June
Duration: One two-day workshop (5-6 May) and one three-day workshop (16-18 June)
Location: ACT
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Establish the essential skills, partnerships and networks required for effective SES leadership. Working at the SES level will be different from what you’re used to if you’re being promoted from an EL2, or if you were working outside of the APS and are newly appointed to an SES position (Band 1 to Band 3). That’s why the APS Academy designed the SES Orientation Program.
The program enables SES personnel to step up to the higher strategic accountabilities of the role, step out to take a broader systems view and engage more effectively with a diverse stakeholder group, and ‘’step forward’’ to develop more capable teams.
The course will support a new SES to take up the leadership (stewardship) and management (accountability) dimensions of their APS SES role, establishing the essential skills, partnerships and networks required for effective SES leadership.
This content has been provided by the APS Academy. The content is suitable for:
- SES Band 1s promoted from an EL classification
- SES Band 1s and Band 2s recruited from outside the APS.
Consideration will be given to long-term acting EL2s (> 6 months).
Public Sector — Persuasive Writing Masterclass 2026
Date: 5 May — 23 June
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: In-person; Canberra, Brisbane
Email: [email protected]
All writing should be clear, concise, and correct. Good-quality public-sector writing should also be professional, persuasive, and polished. Public-sector writing can be challenging and time-consuming. You have to contend with different audiences, rigid deadlines, and complex topics.
While the basic skills of good writing are critical, you need more to meet the demands of more involved government communication. You need to be able to present every case confidently and well, regardless of who you are writing to or what you are writing about. You must be able to use words, structure, flow, and more to deliver compelling arguments and convincing information that people will want to read.
It is about using writing to communicate complex issues clearly and with influence. This masterclass will help you to make the most of your existing skills and practise new ones. It will also offer tips and techniques to make your writing easier, faster, and more effective.
Facilitator Bev Sullivan has decades of experience in running written communication workshops for public servants at all levels and from all tiers of government. Her specialty is helping people to use (and tweak) their existing skills and experience to make writing less of a chore and deliver better results.
Excel Intermediate Workshop
Date: 21 May
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Use Excel more efficiently and effectively to improve productivity.
- Manage and manipulate data across worksheets and workbooks efficiently.
- Apply intermediate formulas and functions to solve real-world problems.
- Create clear, actionable visualisations, including pivot tables and charts.
- Use Copilot to suggest formulas, summaries, and visualisation ideas.
Trainer Mandy Vyner brings deep expertise in helping people build confidence and capability in the digital workplace. With more than three decades’ experience at the forefront of technology training for leading transformative change initiatives across diverse sectors, Mandy specialises in Microsoft Office solutions.
APS 5-6 Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving
Date: 25 — 26 August
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Practical, outcome-driven models for critical thinking and problem-solving.
- Unpack critical thinking to address everyday problems.
- Apply a structured systems thinking approach for problem analysis and solution design.
- Use creative and lateral thinking for complex problem-solving challenges.
- Overcome common roadblocks to critical thinking and problem-solving tasks.
Trainer Kym Viant is an expert in leadership development, with a decorated and distinguished career in the Royal Australian Navy spanning more than 25 years. He has led and inspired thousands of leaders and managers, ranging from emerging talents to senior executives.
With nearly a decade dedicated to leadership consultancy, Kym possesses a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in this field. Currently, he serves as the managing director of Kym Viant Consulting, where he supports leaders in both the public and private sectors.
