Check out the latest public sector networking and education events. Photo: Supplied.
Two Decades On: Rethinking Active Directory Defence for a High-Threat Era
Date: 6 August
Time: 11 am – noon
Location: Webinar
Email: [email protected]
For more than 20 years, Active Directory has been the foundation of identity management across the public sector. But as government agencies face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and rising regulatory obligations – including privacy law reforms and the evolving guidance from the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) – traditional approaches to AD protection are no longer enough.
This webinar brings together senior IT and security leaders to explore how governments can modernise identity protection strategies across hybrid, on-premises and cloud environments. With operational continuity, critical infrastructure protection and citizen trust on the line, it’s time to elevate AD defence from reactive recovery to proactive risk prevention.
Key topics will include:
- What “modern defence” really means for Active Directory in a post-ransomware, zero-trust environment.
- How to apply ASD Essential Eight, IRAP controls and identity-specific recommendations at scale.
- Streamlining incident response and audit-readiness with advanced AD recovery and change monitoring.
- Minimising service disruption and data loss through secure, tested recovery frameworks.
- Enabling visibility and accountability across increasingly complex identity ecosystems.
- This is a critical conversation for CIOs, CISOs, infrastructure leaders and directors responsible for safeguarding government systems, data and services. Attendees will walk away with actionable insights to strengthen identity resilience and prepare for what’s next in cyber defence.
APS6 to EL1: Managing Performance & Difficult Conversations
Date: 7 – 8 August
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Learn the essential communication and conflict resolution skills to effectively and proactively manage performance.
- Understand the risks of employee disengagement and identify its signs.
- Deliver performance feedback that is proactive, effective, and actionable.
- Prepare for and navigate tough conversations with the right tools.
- Learn essential skills for resolving conflicts constructively and positively.
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 is an organisational psychologist passionate about people’s success and facilitating their careers to rise. Dr Whittingham teaches organisational psychology at UNSW and works with ASX-listed companies and large public sector organisations to drive engagement, inclusion, and performance.
EL1-2 Women in Leadership Masterclass
Date: 19 – 20 August
Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Ngunnawal Country, Canberra
Email: [email protected]
This immersive program is designed to strengthen and guide your public sector career. Gain the skills to take on more challenging roles. Specifically designed for EL 1-2 officers and management, this interactive masterclass will equip you with the tools and strategies to lead with greater impact and confidently take on more senior and complex roles in the public sector.
Learn how to overcome the common internal and external barriers to success faced by women in the workplace, enhance and refine your current leadership skills, and develop new capabilities to take the next step in your career. Set a career plan, seize progression opportunities, and learn how to purposefully lead yourself, your team, and your organisation into the workplace of the future.
This interactive course is cognisant of the APS Work Level Standards (WLS) for EL1-EL2 and is designed to reflect and align with the expectations of these roles. It will support and enhance the capabilities and behaviours required of EL1-EL2 roles as per the APS Integrated Leadership System (ILS), which is essential for high performance.
Facilitator Kathryn Thomas has a global career of more than 20 years as a management consultant and global learning leader. Kathryn specialises in unlocking performance for people and their organisations. She has previously worked as an HR senior consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and held global and Asia-Pacific leadership roles with IBM Global Business Services. She brings deep expertise in adult learning, facilitation, leading change and leading with impact.
Kathryn is a director in her own business, focusing on people and performance within the government and private sectors. She is an accredited executive coach who has a passion for supporting women in leadership to thrive.
Mastering Difficult Conversations & Feedback Series
Date: 19 – 28 August
Time: 9:30 am – 1 pm & 9:30 am – 4 pm
Location: Meanjin | Brisbane & Online
Email: [email protected]
Prepare for, lead and facilitate difficult conversations with skill, confidence and empathy.
This series empowers you to have more genuine, effective and constructive engagement within your team and organisation. Difficult conversations are tricky, but they cannot be avoided. It is essential for leaders to have the confidence to identify and manage problems at work early on, before they escalate.
Without the confidence to navigate difficult conversations, leaders may find themselves avoiding or delaying and actually perpetuating the problem. Generally speaking, this leads to more frustration, internal confusion and resentment, and despite all this avoidance and delay, you still have to have the (now more) difficult conversation. The good news is that difficult conversations can be successfully managed and can achieve positive outcomes for all involved. Handled well, they present an opportunity to:
- Resolve workplace conflicts appropriately and efficiently.
- Refresh and sustain high performance and engagement.
- Improve relationships within your team and reaffirm respect for you as their leader.
Attend this two-day masterclass to transform your own performance to navigate difficult conversations well and deliver excellent feedback.
Facilitator Eleanor Groat is the founder of Your Best Asset and is a committed developer of leaders and teams. She is an engaging and experienced facilitator who has held a lifelong fascination with what makes people ‘’tick’’. She brings a unique perspective on human behaviour with a 20-year career in this field across the corporate, law enforcement, mental health, education, and not-for-profit sectors.
Cultural Competence & Awareness for Government
Date: 19 – 20 August
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Champion inclusivity and boost collaboration in diverse work environments.
- Enhance your understanding to create an inclusive workplace.
- Engage effectively with First Nations and intercultural communities.
- Map cultural preferences to recognise their impact on workplace interactions.
- Utilise communication to bridge cultural differences and enhance collaboration.
Trainer Suzanne Naden is a proud Yuin woman, raised on Darkinjung Country, and has strong family connections across the South Coast, Worimi Nation, and La Perouse Mission. As CEO of the Bungree Aboriginal Association and principal consultant at Suzanne Naden – Land and Resource Management, she has more than 20 years of experience in governance, land management, and cultural heritage.
Known for her strategic focus and positive attitude, Suzanne excels in building strong partnerships and managing complex stakeholder relationships. Her work results in tangible outcomes that benefit Aboriginal communities, carers, families, and the broader public.
Trainer Joost Thissen is the founding partner of Culture Resource Centre, which specialises in intercultural learning and development. With more than 25 years of experience, Joost focuses on enhancing intercultural competence in individuals, teams, and organisations. She believes that multiculturalism and globalisation require professionals to adopt multiple perspectives and a global mindset. Joost holds a master’s degree in business sociology and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
QLD Women in Leadership Summit 2025
Date: 25 – 29 August
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Rydges South Bank, Brisbane, QLD
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Real talk. Real strategies. Real leadership that makes a difference.
- Build confidence, capability, and community to achieve lasting impact.
- Discover how to maintain momentum while protecting your energy and values.
- Gain practical strategies for thriving through change and challenge.
- Hear from high-performing leaders lighting up industries across Queensland.
Speakers include:
- Chief People Officer, Virgin Australia, Lisa Burquest
- General Manager, Strategic Business Development, Toll Group, Stephanie Callaghan
- Chief Academic Officer, TAFE Queensland, Jenni Butler
- A/Assistant Director-General, Department of the Premier & Cabinet Queensland, Prue Laven
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Innovation, University of Queensland, Sue Harrison.
MasterCraft Series – How can empathy be used in public service? Insights from research and practice
Date: 28 August
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Duration: One one-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
This MasterCraft Series event discusses and highlights the role of empathy in the public service. Empathy’s critical interpersonal and societal role makes it highly relevant for public servants. Empathy research tends to focus on public-facing roles in the government due to the opportunities for empathy that personal interactions present. Much less is known about empathy in public servants who do not interact with the public.
In this event, the presenters will discuss findings from their recent research project on empathy in non-frontline public servants and provide examples of how empathy can be used successfully in policy work and help benefit the public in meaningful ways.
The presenters are Dr Assel Mussagulova and Dr Colette Einfeld.
Dr Mussagulova is a lecturer in public policy and public administration at the University of Sydney. Her research interests lie at the intersection of public administration, human resource management, and public policy. Her research focuses on what drives individuals to join the public service and what sustains or hampers their desire to create public good while employed in the sector. This includes individual differences, and cultural and larger environmental factors such as bureaucratic systems and economic conditions. Her bigger research agenda is about contributing to scholarship on building more efficient, empathetic, and attractive civil service systems.
Dr Mussagulova previously worked as a public servant, a consultant for the United Nations Development Program, and as a researcher in the field of career development.
Dr Einfeld is a postdoctoral research fellow at ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific. She is interested in knowledges, evidence, and ethics in policymaking, and how these are negotiated in approaches like nudge and co-design. Her research increasingly focuses on how different knowledges or epistemologies are considered in policymaking in the Global South, specifically South-East Asia. She also writes about methodologies and the experiences of ‘’doing’’ interpretive research.
Dr Einfeld has also worked at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU, and at the Melbourne School of Government at the University of Melbourne. She brings to her academic work more than 20 years of qualitative and quantitative experience working in applied research with businesses, governments, and not-for profit organisations, managing projects in the areas of media, health and welfare, finance, and energy.
This content is suitable for all staff.
Lunch and Learn – Session 2: AI for Personal Efficiency
Date: 29 August
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Duration: One one-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The is the second event in a series jointly presented by GovAI and the APS Academy exploring artificial intelligence (AI), what it is and how it works for the APS. AI is the great disruptor of our time. This session will explore how AI can be used for personal efficiency in the workplace. The panellists will share some of their experiences in integrating AI into workflows. Learn just how easily time and production efficiencies are gained by using AI tools in your everyday activities.
The presenters are Dr Liming Zhu, Georgia Conway and Zak Kazakoff.
Dr Zhu is a research director at CSIRO’s Data61, the AI/digital arm of Australia’s national science agency, and a conjoint professor at UNSW. He contributes to the OECD.AI’s AI Risks and Accountability, the Responsible AI at Scale think tank at Australia’s National AI Centre, ISO AI standards committees, and Australia’s AI safety standard. His research division innovates in AI engineering, responsible/safe AI, blockchain, quantum software, privacy, and cybersecurity, and hosted Australia’s Consumer Data Right/Open Banking standards setting.
Dr Zhu has authored more than 300 papers and is a regular keynote speaker. He delivered the keynote Software Engineering as the Linchpin of Responsible AI at the International Conference on Software Engineering. His latest book, Responsible AI: Best Practices for Creating Trustworthy AI Systems, and his forthcoming book, Engineering AI Systems: DevOps and Architecture Approaches, reflect his vision for the rigorous engineering of responsible and safe AI systems for society.
Ms Conway is the engagement lead for GovAI, with a strong background in strategic communications, digital marketing, and supporting teams through change. She has worked across the Australian Public Service and the not-for-profit sector, leading projects in branding, engagement, and organisational change. Ms Conway takes a people-first approach, helping teams build confidence with new technology through clear, inclusive, and accessible communication. She is passionate about making AI feel approachable and practical, showing how it can boost productivity, streamline work, and strengthen engagement. Drawing on her experience in secretariat, communications, and stakeholder engagement work, she helps teams achieve real, meaningful results with AI tools in a public sector setting.
Mr Kazakoff is a policy officer at the Department of Finance. With degrees in computer science and economics, he aims to bridge the gap between tech and policy. His workshop, Practical AI for Public Servants, exemplifies that bridge, providing tangible insight on the low-level detail while anchoring it in the context of day-to-day work in the public service.
Jointly presented by GovAI and the APS Academy, this content has been provided by the APS Academy and is suitable for all staff.
Women Unlimited Leadership Summit 2025
Date: 29 September – 1 October
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: In-person and online
Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth
Email: [email protected]
Our Women UNLIMITED series is built on the belief that true power lies in the collective spirit of people unbound by limits. This latest summit will be the biggest in Australia, and will be held over two days, across seven venues and six Australian capital cities.
That’s why we’ve brought together global powerhouses and some of the most inspiring minds in leadership to share their experiences. Discover how these leadership powerhouses and others are leading the charge in the pursuit of progress: former US secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton; former Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard; former director general and first woman to head an Australian statutory intelligence agency, Australian Signals Directorate, Rachel Noble; and former host of 7.30, journalist, author, podcast co-host and current host of the ABC’s Australian Story, Leigh Sales.
Gain once-in-a-lifetime advice from some of the nation’s most senior women leaders as they share their powerful lived experiences in pursuing progress, alongside enlightening and empowering discussions on the most critical topics for leaders.
