Head of the Data Science Hub at APRA, Adrian Waddy, will be the presenter at the Lunch and Learn — Session 8: Test if your AI is ready for real work at a virtual event on 8 October. Photo: Supplied.
EL2 Data Leadership
Date: 1 – 22 October
Time: 9 am – 1:30 pm
Duration: Four 4.5-hour face-to-screen sessions
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The EL2 level has a critical role in lifting the data capabilities of the APS. In addition to their responsibility to show leadership in their use of data in their own activities, EL2s help build organisational capability and responsiveness, marshal professional expertise, and harness information and opportunities. EL2s are also required to help raise the reputation of the entire public service, including by demonstrating professionalism and probity.
This course is designed to enhance data leadership knowledge and capability, focusing on the role data plays in the work of the public service and critical issues that impact on the availability, integrity and use of data. The course is pitched at EL2s working in policy, regulatory, corporate, service delivery and other roles. That is, those who might not otherwise see themselves as data professionals.
This learning experience has been created by the Australian National University in partnership with the APS data profession. It is suitable for EL2s.
Lunch and Learn – Session 8: Test if your AI is ready for real work
Date: 8 October
Time: 12:30 pm – 1 pm
Duration: One 30-minute face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
Find out how the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is evaluating generative AI tools for operational use. This session explores APRA’s structured testing framework, developed in collaboration with ASIC and RBA, to assess model performance, governance, and traceability. It’s a landmark case study in responsible AI adoption in a high-stakes regulatory environment, showing how agencies can balance innovation with accountability.
Presenter Adrian Waddy is head of the Data Science Hub at APRA, a role that encompasses being responsible for the Data Science Lab, Analytical Enablement and Suptech Exploration functions within the organisation. Previously, Adrian was the Technical Lead on the Bank of England’s $25 million implementation of its first big data platform, before moving to the PRA to build up its data science and advanced analytics function.
Adrian has presented widely to the international central bank and regulation community on big data, data science and AI. He also wrote the chapter “Implementing Big Data solutions” for the ECB-curated book Data Science in Economics and Finance for Decision Makers. He is passionate about enabling talented people to have a positive effect on the communities they serve through data science.
Facilitator Daniel Parris is an engagement manager with GovAI, a whole-of-government program in the Department of Finance working to enable responsible and effective AI adoption across the Australian Public Service.
This content is suitable for all staff.
NSW Public Sector Grades 11-12 High-Performance & Leadership Workshop
Date: 14 – 15 October
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Cliftons Sydney
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Develop the essential skills and key strategic leadership competencies to excel in Grade 11-12 roles and beyond. The workshop will help you:
- Develop authentic leadership for Grades 11-12
- Evolve into a strategic, influential decision-maker
- Build high-performing, autonomous teams
- Effectively lead change and transformation.
Trainer Amy Mouafi is an experienced senior leader with 25 years of expertise in management, leadership, and driving strategic initiatives for government agencies, law enforcement, and not-for-profits. She excels in designing frameworks for large-scale community programs that drive sustainable change and meet organisational objectives.
Specialising in evidence-based approaches, Amy has led initiatives in areas such as crime reduction, socioeconomic growth, and emergency management. As a strategic adviser and consultant, she shares her insights to help both emerging and established leaders enhance their skills in managing diverse environments and overcoming challenges.
Excel Foundations for Government
Date: 14 – 15 October
Time: 9:15 am – 1 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Strengthen your foundational Excel skills and elevate your proficiency to drive greater efficiency and impact. Create clean, precise and comprehensive Excel spreadsheets using good design and documentation principles.
Levelling up your Excel expertise is vital for anyone working with data in government, where precision, efficiency, and clear communication are essential. If the below describes how you wish to use Excel, this 100 per cent online course is tailor-made for you.
- I feel comfortable with data entry but want to use Excel to analyse and manage data more effectively.
- I want to be more proficient with tables, charts and graphs.
- I understand basic formulas but want to be more nuanced and intuitive when applying them.
- I’d like to fill in gaps in my knowledge and be more confident overall.
- I’d like to be more efficient with Excel and understand how it can help save time, make informed decisions, and visualise data.
This practical course will expand your knowledge and help you create more efficient, accurate, and well-developed workbooks.
Facilitator Paul Harris has been providing training services since 1997 and Systems Development Consulting Services since 2004. While conducting all levels of MS Office training for Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word, and VBA training for Access, Excel and Word, his specialty has been primarily Access and Excel. He has successfully delivered training to many organisations from a vast array of business sectors.
Paul’s consulting services comprise MS Access system design and development, including VBA-controlled data processing, automated Word/Excel document creation populated with selective data, and backend connections via ODBC, DAO, and ADO to various backend sources. He also has experience with SQL server backend development, including Views, Stored Procedures, and User-Defined Functions.
MasterCraft Series – AI for Policy People
Date: 15 October
Time: 10 am – noon
Duration: One two-hour hybrid, face-to-face/face-to-screen session
Location: Hybrid/MoAD 18 King George Terrace, Parkes, ACT
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The Practical AI for Public Servants workshop delivers tangible insights into how AI tools work and how to apply them. Most of the discussion around AI in the public service has been about guardrails: about what you can’t do – which, though important for safe and responsible use, doesn’t provide much motivation or clarity about what we can do.
This workshop gets straight to the point, focusing on the can and the how: what are these AI tools, how do I use them, what does it look like in my work, what are they good at, and what are they bad at? This workshop provides a foundational understanding of how to prompt engineer to get the best results out of generative AI tools, and demonstrates an extensive array of real-work use-case examples to seed ideas about how these tools can be leveraged in your own work context.
Presenter Zak Kazakoff is a policy officer at the Department of Finance. Zak has degrees in computer science and economics. His interest lies in bridging the gap between tech and policy. This workshop, Practical AI for Public Servants, exemplifies that bridge, providing tangible insights into the low-level detail while anchoring it in the context of day-to-day work in the public service.
This content is suitable for all staff.
QLD Public Sector AO6 to AO7: Management Essentials Workshop
Date: 15 – 16 October
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Cliftons Brisbane
Email: [email protected]
Overview
Essential management skills to strengthen the connections between strategy and results.
- Address changing expectations facing management in the Queensland Public Service
- Strengthen your resilience through emotional intelligence
- Manage KPIs, set expectations, and monitor outcomes
- Develop a focused, yet flexible strategy to guide your development.
Trainer Martin Brooker, a distinguished veteran with 37 years of service in the Royal Australian Navy, boasts a career marked by command at sea and operational excellence in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the Pacific. Retiring in 2015 as a commodore, he transitioned to become the founder and director of the Quench Group.
Specialising in personal and organisational change, Martin draws from his rich leadership experiences and culture change initiatives. Recognised with awards such as the Conspicuous Service Cross and a Commendation for Distinguished Service, he shares authentic insights into leadership challenges.
How to embed child safety in organisational culture
Date: 16 October
Time: 10 am – 1 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Every day, headlines remind us that our systems and services — whether early learning, residential care, or online platforms — are still failing the children they are meant to protect. From alarming revelations about childcare breaches and state care exploitation to legal and technological gaps demanding urgent reform, the time for complacency has passed.
In this powerful and thought-provoking session, we’ll challenge the assumption that safety comes from paperwork. Australia already has an abundance of frameworks, child safety standards, reporting schemes, and national principles, but checklists and policies don’t protect children. People do.
True child safety lives in culture, not compliance. We’ll explore how real protection comes from embedding child safety into the DNA of your organisation — where inappropriate behaviour is never tolerated, never normalised, and never goes undetected. Join us to uncover how to elevate your organisation’s approach to child safety with this hands-on seminar, designed to equip and empower.
Facilitator Brad Poynting is a tenacious advocate for the wellbeing of children and young people. From working in frontline child protection in Queensland to developing child-safeguarding frameworks for some of the largest providers of early education in Australia, Brad is on a mission to prevent children and young people from experiencing abuse and neglect. He has also worked on safeguarding strategies for faith-based organisations and held child safeguarding and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse roles for international humanitarian aid agencies.
Core Issues in Regulatory & Risk-Control Practice
Date: 21 – 24 October
Time: 9 am – 1 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
An engaging four-part course with Professor Malcolm K Sparrow, the CIRRP seminar covers fundamental questions in regulatory design and examines specific contemporary puzzles currently demanding attention from Australasian regulatory bodies. It therefore provides a suitable orientation for newcomers to the regulatory business, appropriate for practitioners at any rank –from the frontline to the boardroom, and every level of management in between.
It also offers seasoned regulatory professionals an opportunity to examine the broad array of possibilities in terms of regulatory strategy and practice and to use that richer picture as a backdrop for reflecting on their own experiences and considering their aspirations and plans.
Please note that this program emphasises management and practice of risk-control operations (i.e., regulatory practice) as opposed to the reform of law itself (regulatory policy). It is also oriented more towards social regulation (provision of safety, health and security) than economic regulation (managing the efficient functioning of specific markets).
You will have opportunities, both during class discussions and outside class time, to raise other issues you currently face and to draw on your own professional experience.
Malcolm K Sparrow is a leading international expert in regulatory and enforcement strategy, security and risk control. Malcolm is the professor of the Practice of Public Management at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government and the faculty chair of the school’s executive program, Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies.
Differentiation in Teaching & Learning
Date: 22 – 23 October
Time: 9:30 am – 4 pm
Location: Naarm | Rendezvous Melbourne & Online
Email: [email protected]
This conference focuses on applying innovative strategies to drive success for all learners. It covers practical whole-of-school strategies to embed differentiation and inclusive practice at scale.
As schools face increasing pressure to improve outcomes for every student, effective differentiation has never been more essential to delivering targeted, impactful teaching. The Differentiation in Teaching & Learning Conference brings together school leaders, teachers and experts to equip you with practical, real-world strategies to strengthen a whole-school approach to differentiation.
Over two days, explore methods to build staff capacity, leverage data and embed inclusive practices that support every learner. Gain actionable strategies focused on leadership, instructional coaching, neurodivergent inclusion, and using formative assessment to identify learner needs and guide responsive, personalised instruction. Leave with the knowledge and tools to drive sustainable, school-wide improvements in teaching and learning.
Essential editing & proofreading skills for the public sector
Date: 23 October
Time: 10 am – 1 pm
Location: Online
Email: [email protected]
Proofread, refine and polish with confidence. Perfect your editing and proofreading skills.
Have you ever found yourself staring at a document, unsure, wondering whether your edits are truly improving it, or stressing over whether you’ve found every last error?
Editing and proofreading can be challenging. This practical workshop is designed to equip you with the skills and confidence you need.
We’ll tackle the usual dilemmas head-on: How do you determine what’s ‘’right’’? What changes are necessary? How do you ensure the changes match the author’s intent and the reader’s needs? You’ll learn effective techniques for refining others’ writing and also for critically reviewing your own work.
This workshop will give you hands-on practice to develop and sharpen your abilities. By the end, you’ll have the skills to ensure clarity and conciseness and to deliver polished, professional content confidently.
Presenter 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. With an extensive background in government, education, and communication, she is familiar with the challenges involved in producing excellent public sector writing.
Building Digital Trust: Securing Australia’s Digital Future
Date: Available until 5 November
Time: 11 am – noon
Location: Webinar
Email: [email protected]
Overview
In today’s fast-moving digital landscape, trust is no longer optional — it’s the foundation of modern government service delivery. As citizen expectations grow and technologies such as AI, cloud platforms and connected infrastructure become more pervasive, public sector agencies must embed resilience, transparency and security into every digital interaction.
This five-part national webinar series explores how government leaders can build enduring digital trust by aligning with national priorities, including the Australian Cyber Security Strategy, the Modern Defensible Architecture from ASD and Zero Trust principles. It will examine the vital role of digital trust in protecting critical infrastructure, maintaining data sovereignty and enabling secure digital transformation.
Through practical insights, emerging frameworks and real-world case studies, this series — organised by the Public Sector Network — offers ICT leaders, cybersecurity professionals and transformation executives a roadmap to reduce risk, improve transparency, and elevate trust as a strategic enabler of resilience, citizen safety and innovation.
