Trainer Dr Leanne Elich will lead the APS 5-6 High-Performance & Leadership Workshop at Cliftons Canberra from 17 — 18 June. Photo: Supplied.
Contract Management in Practice
Date: 16 June
Time: 1 pm — 4 pm
Duration: Three-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This course includes contract management to deliver value-for-money outcomes. It covers contract start-up, ongoing management, and contract closure through to disposals, consistent with the project’s governance and assurance requirements. Participants will use case studies and scenario-based simulations to make decisions and judgments to effectively manage a contract.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance, and the content is suitable for all officials involved in the contracting process or who wish to refresh their skills. The course will benefit contract managers, where improved management of the contract and supplier will deliver improvements for government.
Getting that Selection Right
Date: 16 — 17 June
Time: 10 am — 4:30 pm and 10 am — 12:30 pm
Duration: One 6.5-hour and one 2.5-hour face-to-screen sessions
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This program helps members of selection committees conduct effective hiring processes. Examine the relevant legislation and principles guiding staff selection and retention. Look at the three-staged recruitment process used in the APS.
Create effective selection practices that include building rapport with applicants and managing judgments and evaluations. Understand the selection panel’s roles in speaking with referees, reaching a recommendation decision, writing a report and giving feedback.
This learning experience has been provided by the APS Academy, and the content is suitable for APS 1 — EL 2.
The Mandarin Live: Future-Ready Public Service — Canberra
Date: 17 June
Time: 9 am – 4:50 pm
Location: Hotel Realm, Canberra & Online Livestream
Email: [email protected]
This summit assembles the leaders of the Australian Public Service to navigate the complexities of the federal authorising environment. The focus for senior executives must shift towards the practical mastery of a professional, modern service and the long-term protection of the public interest as the APS moves beyond the initial implementation of the reform agenda.
Building a future-ready public service demands more than strategic intent — it requires a fundamental commitment to stewardship, systemic integrity and the high-performance scaling of digital capability.
The program examines the core priorities defining the federal service — embedding a culture of systemic integrity and proactive accountability, navigating the post-compliance landscape to scale AI innovation, and redefining workforce mobility to attract and retain elite leadership talent.
Participants will gain a sharper understanding of central agency priorities, practical insights into managing the human element of a flexible workforce, and the professional connections required to steward a resilient, citizen-centred APS.
Procurement-connected Policies
Date: 17 June
Time: 1 pm — 3 pm
Duration: Two-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The Procurement-connected Policies course provides APS officials with a basic understanding of procurement-connected policies (PCPs) and their use in the procurement lifecycle. It provides an overview of current PCPs referenced in paragraphs 4.9 and 4.10 of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and their application for specific procurement activities.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance, and the content is suitable for all officials who are new to procurement, need a refresher, or want to move to a role in procurement. It will also benefit officials working in procurement on an ad hoc basis, regular procurers, and delegates.
Enhancing Emotional Intelligence
Date: 17 June
Time: 9 am — 12:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Unlock the strategies needed to cultivate self-awareness and empathy for personal growth and team success.
- Understand the impact of emotional intelligence on success.
- Identify your strengths, growth areas, and emotional triggers.
- Enhance empathy and social awareness for deeper connections.
- Apply strategies in teams with a personalised action plan.
Trainer Dr Karen Whittingham is one of Australia’s leading executive management development specialists, having worked with thousands of executives to transition them into senior leadership roles quickly and effectively.
She teaches organisational psychology at UNSW and works with ASX-listed companies and large public-sector organisations to drive engagement, inclusion and performance.
Engaging with First Nations Communities Workshop for APS 4 — 6 Levels
Date: 17 June
Time: 9:30 am — 4 pm
Duration: One 6.5-hour face-to-face session
Location: ACT
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This face-to-face workshop will build your capability in engagement and partnerships with First Nations communities and organisations. The content supports participants to learn through practitioner-led, peer-to-peer interactions and conversations, and is co-facilitated by a First Nations APS staff representative and an APS Academy lead practitioner.
The workshop will cover topics including the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms, the Charter of Partnerships and Engagement, traditional ownership, authenticity, authority, power, and shared decisions. It will also include a discussion of scenarios and challenging mindsets, reflections on practice and a commitment to ongoing learning, and the importance of creating networks and sharing information.
This learning experience has been provided by the APS Academy, and the content is suitable for APS 4 — APS 6.
APS 5-6 High-Performance & Leadership Workshop
Date: 17 — 18 June
Time: 9 am — 4:30 pm
Location: Cliftons Canberra
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Build the confidence, capability and mindset to lead effectively and take the next step in your public-sector career.
- Understand your leadership style, strengths and values in action.
- Communicate with clarity, confidence and influence.
- Support and guide teams through challenge, change and growth.
- Strengthen collaboration and trust across diverse stakeholders.
- Create a personal development plan to accelerate your leadership journey.
Trainer Dr Leanne Elich is an award-winning neuroscientist and sales psychology strategist. She is a pioneering leader in psychology and neuroscience applied to business and an expert in high-performance teams.
With a PhD in cognitive neuropsychology and a catalogue of publications, she is the CEO of Leanne Elich Consulting, an advisory firm that works with individuals, teams and organisations to empower their ability to ethically influence consumer behaviour.
Dr Elich is a graduate of the University of Sydney, Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School, and an Honorary Clinical Fellow of the Queensland University of Technology.
Writing and Evaluating Tender Criteria
Date: 18 June
Time: 9 am — noon
Duration: Three-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Covering knowledge and practices relating to delivering effective evaluation outcomes, this is an essential course for anyone who will be required to sit on an evaluation panel. It provides a set of tools and techniques to manage sourcing events and their evaluation efficiently and accountably, and deliver the right outcomes.
The course includes an overview of the end-to-end evaluation process, including evaluation criteria and scoring methods.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance, and the content is suitable for all staff who are new to procurement, need a refresher, or want to move to a role in procurement. It will benefit APS staff working in procurement on an ad hoc basis, regular procurers, or delegates. It is suited to officials who manage quotes or tenders, assist in evaluating quotes or tenders, or oversee staff managing quotes or tenders.
Persuasive Writing Masterclass 2026 Brisbane
Date: 23 June
Time: 9 am — 4 pm
Location: In-person | Brisbane CBD
Email: [email protected]
This masterclass will help you to make the most of your existing skills and practise new ones. It is about using writing to communicate complex issues clearly and with influence, and 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.
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.
MasterCraft Series — First Nations Data Sovereignty
Date: 25 June
Time: 1 pm — 2 pm
Duration: One-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
First Nations data sovereignty is increasingly recognised as a critical consideration across government, yet it is often understood as a policy concept rather than a practical responsibility. For many public servants, data collection, reporting and measurement are part of everyday work — but the lived impact of these systems on First Nations organisations is not always visible.
Drawing on direct experience working alongside Aboriginal organisations, as well as insights from the Buledya report on First Nations data sovereignty, this session will explore how funding, reporting and data requirements are experienced in practice. This includes challenges such as organisations losing funding despite delivering impact, reporting processes that do not align with how work is actually done, and measurement frameworks that fail to capture meaningful outcomes.
Presenter John Saulo is a director and co-founder of Ngakkan Nyaagu (NGNY) and Buledya, First Nations-led initiatives working at the intersection of strategy, design, technology and data.
Since establishing NGNY in May 2014, John has spent more than a decade supporting organisations across the government, corporate and community sectors, bringing a practitioner-led perspective to complex challenges involving systems, data and engagement.
