On the 15th of November 2017 IPAA held the annual National Conference in Canberra with the theme Thinking Differently: Building Trust.
The conference celebrated thought leaders and provocateurs discussed how to think differently and build trust. Delegates heard how the landscape is changing and how public sector leaders need to adapt. Speakers included heads of public sector departments at the federal and state level, respected academics and nationally-recognised commentators. A number of international speakers brought broader perspectives to the conversation.
A conference function was held the evening prior at the iconic National Arboretum, overlooking Canberra. The function celebrated excellence in public administration with the announcement of the winners of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management, followed by the awarding of IPAA National Fellows.
I encourage you to view the informative resources including videos of each session here and below.
VIEW GARRAN ORATION
VIEW CONVERSATION ONE
VIEW CONVERSATION TWO
VIEW CONVERSATION THREE
VIEW REFLECTIONS AND SUMMATION PANEL
The Don Dunstan Foundation second Social Capital Residencies Showcase was an opportunity to hear about successful initiatives by our partnering organisations and to meet others working in the purpose economy.
Following an economic briefing, there was a series of rapid fire presentations from local initiatives, start-ups, established businesses and others all working on creating jobs in the purpose economy.
Our guests then heard from our international key-note speaker, Allyson Hewitt, Thinker in Residence. She reflected on her first visit and spoke about her recommendations.
Allyson Hewitt leads the social innovation programs at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Canada. Allyson has assisted hundreds of social ventures to become economically sustainable and increase their social impact, has initiated and implemented public policy to support social enterprise and has developed a range of social innovation programs at MaRS.
Delivering public value is increasingly challenging given increasing citizen demand, political uncertainty and technological disruption in a tightening fiscal environment and an era of smaller government.
At the same time, the world of work is changing and the public service must respond with a new set of skills, policies and ways of working to stay relevant.
A strategic approach to workforce planning will be vital to creating a highly mobile, diverse, entrepreneurial, commercially minded and digitally fluent workforce.
At this forum Michael Hiller shared the results of some recent work from KPMG in this area, and was then joined for a panel discussion on the impact for the public sector now and into the future.
The panel included:
Dr Matt Pearce emceed the forum.
As we embark on delivering Public Value in a dynamic and rapidly changing time, the single factor that can help us make decisions is our Purpose. Our Purpose is a shared recognition of the reason why we exist—it is the context that determines whether a decision is the right one to make at any particular time.
When Purpose appeals to your intrinsic motivation and aligns with your values, it will fuel your success. As executives and senior managers, when we are aligned with our values on a daily basis, we have more energy and feel more fulfilled because we are leading from what’s important to us.
This dynamic forum engaged senior leaders across the Public Sector to share their understanding of how our values give us our sense of Purpose. It also explored and defined how we can come together to lead the way to make South Australia thrive and continue to build a modern Public Sector. This was the first of a number of forums to be held with managers focusing on embedding the Public Sector values.
The Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri emceed the forum.
Download the Public Sector Purpose and Values here.
