In a thought-provoking session, facilitator Brad Poynting will address an online seminar titled “How to embed child safety in organisational culture” on 16 October. Photo: Supplied.
Procurement-connected Policies
Date: 14 October
Time: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
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 (CPRs) and their application for specific procurement activities.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance. It is suitable for all staff, including officials who are new to procurement, may need a refresher, or who 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.
CPR Exemptions and Conditions for Limited Tender
Date: 14 October
Time: 1:30 pm – 4 pm
Duration: 2.5-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) Divisions 1 and 2 are the rules that APS officials must follow when procuring. Appendix A lists the exemptions from the rules of Division 2 and from rules 4.7, 4.8 and 7.26 of Division 1.
Limited tender involves approaching one or more potential suppliers directly and requesting they make submissions without having to comply with the process for open tenders. Rules for limited tender are stated in the CPRs and include circumstances where limited tender may be conducted.
This course provides APS officials with the information necessary for applying CPR Exemptions and Conditions for Limited Tender. This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance. It is suitable for all staff, including officials who are new to procurement, need a refresher, or want to move to a role in procurement. This course will also benefit officials working in procurement on an ad hoc basis, regular procurers, and delegates.
Crafting Quality New Policy Proposals
Date: 14 – 15 October
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 is suitable for all staff.
Providing Effective Secretariat Support
Date: 14 – 15 October
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 to prepare appropriate documents.
This content has been provided by the APS Academy, and is suitable for APS 3 – EL 2 and APS employees performing secretariat duties.
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 Grades 11-12 roles and beyond. The workshop helps 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 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 by 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 any of the statements below describe 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 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, Paul’s specialty has been Access and Excel. He has successfully delivered training to many organisations from a vast array of business sectors.
Procurement Risk Management
Date: 15 October
Time: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Duration: One two-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 activity. This is to identify and manage all risks, specifically technical and commercial ones, to deliver the requirements and value that have been 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. It is suitable for all staff, including officials engaging in, or expecting to engage in, procurement activities regularly or on an ad hoc basis.
Broader Economic Benefits
Date: 15 October
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Duration: Two-hour face-to-screen session
Location: Virtual
Email: https://apslearn.apsacademy.gov.au/user_login
The Australian Government is committed to building a stronger, more prosperous and resilient economy where Australian businesses can be competitive on a domestic and international level. In this course, you will learn about the range of measures in place to promote domestic economic growth through procurement.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance, and is suitable for all staff.
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 insight into how AI tools work and how to apply them. Most of the discussion around AI in the public service has been about guardrails: 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 provides a foundational understanding of how to prompt engineer to get the best results out of generative AI tools. It demonstrates an extensive array of real-world examples to seed ideas about how these tools can be leveraged in your own work context. 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?
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 our 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 Sector
- 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 that demand urgent reform, the failures show the time for complacency has passed.
In this 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.
