Following the establishment of the Office for the Public Sector and the appointment of a new Commissioner for Public Employment, IPAA SA presented a special briefing for all members of the public sector on the future of public sector reform and renewal.
Over the last year and a half Change@SouthAustralia has established a powerful reputation for creating a practical and innovative approach to reform. In particular, the 90-day projects have established the South Australian public sector as a collaborative and productive force in the State’s development. Over the next twelve months, the Office for the Public Sector will build on this work by focussing on the development of public sector leaders and partnerships with non-government sectors.
This session provided an overview of the future direction and outlined ways in which leaders from all sectors can become involved in this exciting program of work. Public sector employees were encouraged to extend invitations to external partners. The session featured:
This event follows Tom Koutsantonis’s delivery of the 2014-2015 Budget: his first as Treasurer. Tom Koutsantonis delivered an in-depth discussion on the budget and its implications for South Australia’s future. Kim Cheater, Partner, PwC, lead the Treasurer through a discussion on the rationale, implications and outcomes of the State Budget. After the discussion the MC for the event, Erma Ranieri, IPAA President, and Commissioner for Public Sector Employment, facilitated a Q&A session that provided the audience with the opportunity to direct questions to the Treasurer.
The Hon Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia addressed the public sector on the key themes of his government for the current term and beyond on the 27th May 2014 at the Grand Ballroom, Hilton Adelaide, 233 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA.
The event was hosted by the Institute of Public Administration Australia South Australia (IPAA SA) and Erma Ranieri, Chief Executive, Office for Public Sector Renewal and Deputy Chief Executive, Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy (DMITRE) was the MC for the morning.
In November 2012 we held one of our most successful forums (judging by the feedback received), Mental Health and the Workplace. This forum attracted over 400 public sector employees and our feedback is saying we can’t stop there. In collaboration with Beyondblue we are developing workshops that will address various topics under the banner of ‘Mental Health and the Workplace’.
This workshop is designed not only to educated managers as to their responsibilities in managing mental health of their staff, but also how to go about having those difficult conversations with staff.
Many managers are not aware what ‘mental health issues’ actually means in behavioural terms. An aim of this workshop is to de-mystify the term ‘mental health issues’ into real world, understandable concepts with real life case studies and examples. This forms the basis of developing skills for difficult conversations: understanding the problem. We will discuss why these are difficult conversations referencing our general reluctance to “pry into other’s private business”. What happens if that ‘private business’ starts to impact work performance? We will look at guidelines and obligations upon employers and managers under WHS as well as the Public Sector Act. Prior to engaging more formal processes, we will look at communication skills for managers in how to approach staff and how to frame conversations around the intersection between mental health and performance.
As Premier of South Australia, Don Dunstan set new directions for public administration that had far-reaching national impacts. Shortly before his death in 1998, Don Dunstan entrusted to the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA), the key advocate for effective public administration, the honour of carriage of the annual Don Dunstan Oration on Public Administration, and was in fact its first Orator.
