Taking the Strategy on the road

On 6 March, the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) held a leg of the 2024 State of the Service roadshow at the University of Newcastle. This is one of many events bringing APS leaders and staff together to discuss what matters most to the workforce.

The Digital Transformation Agency's (DTA) Lucy Poole, General Manager of the Strategy, Planning and Performance division, joined the Newcastle panel to discuss a diverse and dispersed APS that accommodates its workforce's needs and uplifts its data and digital capability.

Lucy was joined on the panel by:

• the Hon. Patrick Gorman, Assistant Minister for the Public Service
• Dr Subho Banerjee, Head of the APS Academy and Capability at the APSC
• John Shepherd, First Assistant Secretary, Digital ID and Data Policy at the Department of Finance.

The session demonstrated that the APS' regional workforce contributes significantly to all people and business, and brings a valuable, on-the-ground perspective of different community needs.

The audience of local public servants were deeply interested in how government will uplift the capabilities of staff no matter where they work across the country.

Lucy spoke to the practical means the Data and Digital Government Strategy (the Strategy) can extend and embed capability across the service. This tied in to a tour of the APS Academy campus, hosted at the University of Newcastle. It's a physical place for entry-level staff to begin their public service career without leaving their community while building their data and digital skills.

These campuses, alongside multi-agency APS Hubs and other initiatives, are valuable supporting infrastructure as the government grows its data and digital workforce, especially outside of the typical metropolitan areas. 

You can watch a recording of the Newcastle and other roadshow sessions on the APSC website.

Putting the Strategy into practice

Building a data and digital-capable APS is a key outcome of the strategy mission: Data and digital foundations.

The Newcastle APS Academy campus will help to recruit, embed and retain core digital roles, a task advocated by Chris Fechner, CEO of the DTA and head of the APS' Digital Profession.

But the opportunity of data and digital capability extends to the entire workforce, with the Strategy demonstrating how integral both are to its ways of working.

To help staff and agencies understand how they can embed the strategy in their own ways of working, we have developed a 'strategy overview'. It's a quick introduction to the Strategy's intentions and how it could make a practical, meaningful impact.

If you're familiarising with the Data and Digital Government Strategy for the first time, try starting with the strategy overview then explore the missions, outcomes and initiatives in full at dataanddigital.gov.au.

The Strategy team continues to work on the next implementation plan update and is on the lookout for case studies and initiatives from across the APS. Keep an eye out for more on this in the coming months.

Is your team, brand or division diving into what the Data and Digital Government Strategy means for you? Get in touch with the DTA's team to learn more and get your burning questions answered: digitalstrategy@dta.gov.au.