In our milestone thirtieth episode, we are joined by Carlyn Waters, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, as she brings a rare perspective of what it is like to be an Aboriginal person in 2025 and how having cultural traits of resilience, adaptability, curiosity, and humility encapsulate a growth mindset approach to change, and help her, and others, to sit in uncertainty and focus on the bigger purpose beyond just today, recognising that today is only a very small part in a much larger ecosystem.

When you've had a thirty-five-year-long career that spans industries and sectors as our next Trailblazer has, you have the benefit of seeing how organisational learning has changed and if it's changed for the better or worse. Tim Beresford, Chief Executive at the Australian Financial Security Authority, or AFSA, joins us to talk about this and much more in our latest episode on becoming a learning organisation.

What does learning look like in an organisation when a high proportion of your workforce is already doctorate-level educated, formally trained marine scientists and former teachers? Josh Thomas, Chief Executive Officer at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, talks about this and much more as he joins us to discuss becoming a learning organisation in our latest podcast episode.

Our next Trailblazer’s interest in history and learning from it, particularly the history of labour movements and work, has been a common theme that has led her throughout her fascinating career. Marie Boland, Chief Executive Officer at Safe Work Australia, discusses this further in our latest episode on Taking the Path Less Travelled.

We know that there are many modes of learning. One that has been spoken about in recent episodes as critically important is on-the-job learning and how, knowledge sharing between peers, even from different areas of an organisation, can help fuel new ideas and ways of working. Another important learning and development opportunity in the APS is mobility. In our latest episode, Sam Palmer joins us to discuss this and so much more on the topic of learning organisations. Sam is Secretary and a Fellow of IPAA and currently serves as APS reviewer on the independent capability review of the Commonwealth Department of Education on secondment from Austrade.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) 's work is incredibly important. ARPANSA is  Australia's primary authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety, regulating all aspects of Commonwealth activity in the radiation space. Its mandate is to assist in maintaining the safety of Australia's people and biota in the face of potential radiation risks. Dr Ivan Williams, the Chief Medical Radiation Scientist at ARPANSA, joins us in our latest episode to discuss the topic of becoming a learning organisation.

Tess Bishop, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Enterprise, and Engagement at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF), joins us in our latest episode to discuss a growth mindset approach to change.

Developing, supporting, and guiding this next generation of leaders is imperative. Erma Ranieri, Commissioner for Public Sector Employment for South Australia, joins Andy this week to discuss the topic of next-generation leaders and offer her lived experiences of being an authentic leader who’s driven to support others through a whole-person approach and provide fairer opportunities for all.

You often hear about 21st-century leaders in government, but what about 22nd-century leaders? It’s an intriguing concept to ponder, especially considering that Gen Alpha, children born between 2010 and 2024, will play an pivotal role in stewarding our community, country, and world into the next century.

Join us in exploring this topic and much more with Kate Driver. Kate is the CEO of IPAA ACT and the co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation, linking education, industry, community, and government to meet the needs of students and deliver future sustainable workforces for the Australian Industry.  

Our final episode today is the perfect conclusion to our series, providing advice and insights on how to maintain an ongoing connection with your employees that helps to fuel a culture of continuous learning in your organisation.

According to LinkedIn's Workplace Learning Report for 2024, 4 in 5 people want to learn how to use AI in their profession. But in the public sector specifically, there has been much trepidation about where to use it, how to use it, and, importantly, ensuring that it is used safely with the proper guardrails in place.

James Christie, Director of Artificial Workflow, and a guest instructor on our Elevate course on Enhancing Processes with AI, joins Andy to discuss the increasingly popular and in-demand skill of AI. Listen in as James answers the fundamentally essential questions on learning AI skills, including if having a technical background is necessary in learning AI, what the best use cases are in getting started, what other skills are complementary to learning AI skills, and the five critical success factors in implementing AI in an organisation. You will also want to take advantage of James's checklist to get going with AI in your organisation, which is provided as a download below.

In today’s episode, we dive deep into the current skills landscape, outlining the skills that are becoming increasingly important and discussing proven strategies that can help organisations become more skills-based in how they attract, develop, nurture, and retain their workforce.  

Listen in as Subho Banerjee, Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Public Service and Head of the APS Academy and Capability, joins Andy to discuss continuous learning, and provide his unique perspectives, drawing on his vast experience across the public and private sectors. In this episode, Subho explains what continuous learning looks like and outlines some of the fantastic learning opportunities he has experienced that have benefited his career. He also provides an overview of the components of the APS continuous learning model, the importance of building adaptability skills across all levels in the public sector, and how to overcome challenges he has seen in becoming a learning organisation.

In the final episode of our first series, we explore the seventh dimension of organisational health, the relational dimension, which is all about learning and development.

David Powell, author, founder, and life skills mentor of The Golden Thread, joins Andy in this enlivening discussion to provide ways that L&D managers can offer learning and development opportunities that build self, relationship, and team interpersonal skills to empower their workforce in their lifelong learning journey to mastery.