Trainer Kate Norris, who specialises in turning insight into action, will lead the online Advanced Data Visualisation Workshop from 19 — 20 May. Photo: Supplied.
Advanced Data Visualisation Workshop
Date: 19 — 20 May
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Master advanced techniques to turn complex data into visuals that drive decisions.
- Turn complex data into clear visuals: Learn to make multi-layered data easy to understand and visually compelling.
- Design dashboards that work: Create clutter-free, user-friendly dashboards for executives and teams.
- Tell stories that drive decisions: Present insights in a way that informs, persuades and inspires action.
- Refine and deliver with impact: Apply professional workflows and visual storytelling techniques to communicate with confidence.
From working with analysts immersed in complex datasets to enabling data teams to communicate with clarity and impact, trainer Kate Norris specialises in turning insight into action.
Through her work with Blue Box Data Storytelling, she helps teams design clear, compelling data visualisations, dashboards, and presentations that influence decisions. Kate brings a proven, practical approach to advanced data visualisation, equipping participants to translate technical analysis into meaningful business outcomes.
VPS 3-4 Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving
Date: 19 — 20 May
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Cliftons Melbourne
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Develop the essential critical-thinking skills and problem-solving abilities required of VPS 3-4 officers.
- Apply practical, outcome-driven models for critical-thinking and problem-solving challenges.
- Unpack critical thinking as a mental process and set of action steps to address everyday problems.
- Leverage the skills of creative and lateral thinking in complex problem-solving situations.
- Overcome common roadblocks to critical-thinking and problem-solving tasks.
Trainer Richard Farrelly brings more than 27 years of frontline experience to his work in leadership and culture, from policing the streets to coaching leaders across industries.
Having led teams in high-stakes environments, he knows what it takes to build trust, shape values and drive meaningful change. At Victoria Police, he modernised organisational values and facilitated leadership programs for more than 4000 employees.
Today, Richard works with leaders to strengthen communication, shift mindsets and uncover the untapped potential within teams. He has a talent for turning everyday challenges into catalysts for growth.
NSW Public Sector Grades 7-8 Essential Skills Workshop
Date: 20 — 21 May
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Cliftons Sydney
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Kickstart your leadership journey.
- Communicate with clarity and confidence to engage colleagues and stakeholders.
- Build strong working relationships through trust and collaboration.
- Adapt to change and support your colleagues effectively.
- Set clear goals and take ownership of your development.
Trainer Maree Walk is the principal of consultancy Storyroad and a highly regarded leadership specialist, with more than 30 years’ experience across the government, non-profit and private sectors.
She is a Level 2-trained coach, mentoring leaders to drive innovation and collaboration for real change. Maree is also the chair of Allies for Children and serves as a director for City West Housing and the Parenting Research Centre.
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.
From more than three decades at the forefront of technology training to leading transformative change initiatives across diverse sectors, trainer Mandy Vyner brings deep expertise in helping people build confidence and capability in the digital workplace.
Specialising in Microsoft Office solutions, she has worked closely with organisations to design precise, high-impact learning experiences that support both individual growth and enterprise-wide change.
Practical Risk Management: More Than Just Ticking Boxes
Date: 25 May
Time: 9:30 am — 3:30 pm
Duration: One six-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This course is designed for Commonwealth officials whose roles require them to engage with and apply their entity’s risk management framework to successfully deliver outcomes.
This learning experience was created by the Department of Finance in partnership with contracted service providers. The content is suitable for all Commonwealth officials, regardless of level or role, who need to understand basic risk management concepts and how risk is managed federally.
Developing Project Management Expertise
Date: 25 — 26 May
Time: 9 am — 5 pm
Duration: Two eight-hour face-to-face sessions
Location: ACT
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Understand the project management process and tools for implementation and evaluation. This includes project planning, resource identification, implementation, deliverables and milestones, risk assessment, stakeholder management and governance. Develop a project plan, and risk and stakeholder management activities, to deliver the plan on time and within budget.
This learning experience has been provided by a third party in consultation with the APS Academy, and the content is suitable for APS 4 — APS 6.
NSW Public Sector Women in Leadership Masterclass
Date: 26 — 27 May
Time: 9:30 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Sydney (TBC closer to the date)
Email: [email protected]
This transformative program is designed to enhance and accelerate your leadership development.
Take charge of the next phase of your career. This is a watershed moment in your career, and the skills and behaviours that you cultivate now will become the cornerstones of your senior leadership in the years to come.
This intimate and engaging masterclass is designed to provide you with the crucial skills and behaviours to grow and scale your senior leadership for what comes next.
Specifically designed for women in public-sector leadership roles from all jurisdictions, this two-day masterclass will give you the key tools to thrive as a senior leader and set yourself up for success for the rest of your career.
Former deputy secretary of the NSW Public Service Alex O’Mara will take you on a journey of lightbulb moments and strategically help you hone key skills so that you walk away refreshed, inspired and more confident in your leadership and the path ahead.
Crafting Quality New Policy Proposals
Date: 26 — 27 May
Time: 9:30 am — 4 pm; and 9:30 am — noon
Duration: One 6.5-hour and one 2.5-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This program is aimed at employees seeking to understand the key processes and considerations for preparing a new policy proposal. This content has been provided by the APS Academy, and the content is suitable for all staff.
Data Storytelling & Visualisation
Date: 26 — 28 May
Time: 9:30 am — 12:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
At this three-part online workshop, learn practical tips and tools to influence decision-makers with your data. How do you tell a story with your data and influence key stakeholders?
To be successful in today’s business environment, people not only need to be able to discover and understand new insights, but they also need to communicate those insights effectively. Join expert data visualisation specialist Paul Hodge for this engaging workshop to gain new skills or refine your existing ones in the core elements of successful data storytelling, including engagement, presentation and design thinking.
Attendees will gain high-level insights into how to use data visualisation frameworks and apply tips and tricks to develop visualisations that will engage, entertain and inspire future decision-makers.
You will walk through an example of the end-to-end process of developing an interactive, business-focused dashboard using industry-leading data visualisation software. You will also develop skills that will help improve the effectiveness of anyone who needs to communicate information and insights with colleagues, peers and the world.
The Mandarin Live: Future-Ready Public Service — Queensland
Date: 27 — 29 May
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: In-person and online | Rydges South Bank Brisbane
Email: [email protected]
Building a future-ready public service demands more than policy ambition; it requires resilient systems, trusted institutions, and leaders who can deliver under sustained pressure.
This summit brings together Queensland’s senior public-sector leaders to examine how government must evolve to meet growing citizen expectations, manage intersecting crises, and deliver at scale in the lead-up to 2032 and beyond.
Through ministerial insight, executive keynotes and peer-level discussions, the program focuses on the realities of whole-of-government delivery, strengthening integrity and trust, lifting workforce and digital capabilities, and accelerating infrastructure and service outcomes without compromising governance.
Attendees will leave with a clearer insight into government priorities, sharper leadership confidence and practical perspectives to drive resilient, citizen-centred delivery across Queensland’s public service.
Featured speakers include:
- Queensland Premier David Crisafulli
- Queensland Public Sector Commissioner David Mackie
- Department of the Premier & Cabinet Director-General Damien Walker
- Queensland Integrity Commissioner Linda Waugh
- Future Government Institute CEO Victor Dominello
- ATO Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Digital Delivery, Elissa Walker
- Brisbane 2032 Chief Strategy Officer Marguerite Fitzgerald
- Queensland Reconstruction Authority CEO Major-General Jake Ellwood.
