C.8 Learning and Development

The Directorate's learning and development program plays an important role in strengthening workforce and organisational capability, retention and performance.  The Directorate's learning and development program was informed by legislative requirements, ACTPS initiatives, Directorate priorities, and also individual staff development plans.

The Directorate coordinated a range of learning and development opportunities internally, aimed at:

• developing the Directorate as a learning organisation and building a skilled, knowledgeable and capable workforce;
• encouraging all staff to be responsible for their learning and development; and
• retaining employees through providing opportunities for staff to grow and develop.

During the reporting period, Corporate Management coordinated the delivery of a range of learning and development opportunities based on identified needs to enhance staff capabilities.  These learning and development activities included:

Creating Accessible Word Documents -training conducted by Wizard Corporate Training developed staff skills in creating and editing documents for the web, that make Government information easier to use, especially for community members and staff with disabilities.

Introduction to Privacy - seminar presented by the Australian Government Solicitor aimed to increase participant knowledge of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth) sufficient for them to be able to judge whether their handling of personal information was consistent with the Act, and to be aware of the issues that arise in the debate about information privacy and the use and disclosure of personal information.

ACT Government Freedom of Information - sessions presented by the Australian Government Solicitor introduced the operations of the Freedom of Information Act 1989 and FOI processing and the exemption provisions.

Fraud and Ethics Awareness - seminar presented by Interaction Consulting Group focussed on enhancing staff awareness and understanding of obligations and issues relating to fraud and ethics in the ACTPS.

A range of short Workplace Wellbeing and Performance Seminars were presented by Davidson Trahaire Corpsych and the Black Dog Institute, including Achieving and Maintaining Career Satisfaction, Building Personal Resilience and Managing Stress and Maintaining Focus through Mindfulness.  Two short seminars relating to superannuation: Managing Your Retirement and Wealth Accumulation were also conducted by State Super Financial Services.

The learning and development opportunities offered through the Shared Services Training Calendar were actively promoted and targeted at individual and organisational need areas.  This included participation by approximately 49 staff at an estimate cost of $19,400.  An additional $6,000 was incurred by 11 CMTD staff from Treasury prior to their inclusion within the Directorate.  Participation was across the following broad course types:

• information and communications technology;
• writing and administrative skills;
• people management skills;
• policy development and analytical skills;
• project management; and
• financial management.

The Directorate continued to gather formal feedback from learning and development activities, coordinated internally, which was then used to inform the design and selection of further learning and development activities.

During the year, the Directorate continued its commitment to ACTPS learning and development activities as detailed below.

The Directorate continued support for staff through the Studies Assistance Program.  The program has continued to provide assistance in the form of paid and unpaid leave and payment of course costs to staff undertaking tertiary studies.  For the reporting period, the Directorate supported 25 staff and invested approximately $189,000 towards studies assistance.

Further information can be obtained from:

Sue Hall
Director
Corporate Management
+61 2 6207 0569