Thriving in Uncertainty with Samantha Palmer
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.
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.
Listen to episode sixteen:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Sam has over 35 years of diverse experience, with 25 years of those in senior executive service roles in the APS. She is a passionate advocate for having variety in your working career and how, from her personal experience, moving sideways into different roles and taking on new experiences through mobility opportunities has assisted her in seeing things from a different framing or mindset.
Sam provides excellent examples from throughout her career of how experiencing different contexts in departments has helped her transfer her learnings into other roles and how, in Austrade today, they also benefit from bringing in various people from other parts of the organisation into their division to give new insights and skills when Sam and her colleagues are acting in other positions.
In our discussion, Sam reflects on how championing diversity and inclusion has been one of the most rewarding parts of her career, and we also talk about the relationship between change and learning as Sam shares her time at the Australian Bureau of Statistics and involvement in the marriage equality survey and how the short turnaround time of just 99 days required the department to work with a different momentum and process to make it happen while also maintaining procurement requirements.
Another powerful part of our conversation is the role mentors and champions play in professional development. Sam shares a great metaphor of champions being like elephants: They have big ears to listen, big trunks to communicate and talk, big feet and bodies to make a path through barriers, and a caring nature that they work with heart. If you're thinking about taking on a new or different opportunity or how, as a leader, you can help your staff grow and develop, this is definitely an episode that you won't want to miss.
References from this episode:
APS Charter of Engagement and Partnerships including link to good practice guide
Report on the conduct of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
Paper on measuring culture and leadership at the ABS during transformation
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Samantha Palmer
General Manager
Visitor Economy and Client Programs Division
Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
Samantha Palmer is temporarily seconded from her position as General Manager of Austrade’s Visitor Economy and Client Programs Division to work with the Australian Public Service Commission as a Senior APS Reviewer on the Capability Review of the Australian Government Department of Education. She is also a Diversity and Inclusion Champion.
Samantha brings 35-plus years of diverse experience with more than 25 in senior executive service roles. She has led policy, programs and corporate transformations in the Queensland, WA and Commonwealth governments in many areas relevant to the visitor economy. These areas include fair trading and consumer protection, environmental protection and national parks, land transport and road safety, housing, disability, and Indigenous communities. She has also run businesses and worked in the arts, university and community sectors.
Career highlights include achieving a 79.5% response rate for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey; leading the development of the 10-year Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan policy framework; and being appointed the ‘cleanskin’ inaugural Deputy Director General Governance, Integrity and Reform following Australia’s largest public service corruption incident at the WA Communities Department.
Samantha is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA). She was one of the 2013 Australian Financial Review/Westpac 100 Women of Influence, and the 2013 Australian Human Resource Institute Diversity Champion of the Year (HR).
Samantha was elected Secretary of the National Institute of Public Administration Australia (the professional body for public servants) in 2024 having served on both National and ACT IPAA Councils for some time. She has a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Business (Communication).
Tune in next time as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Eight with Martin Hehir
Martin Hehir, the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the Governance and Corporate Group within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, joins us to share his experiences in the public sector of Taking the Path Less Travelled.
In 2025, we are honoured to continue sharing more uplifting and encouraging stories in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty. Martin Hehir, who joins us for today's episode, is no exception.
Martin Hehir, the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the Governance and Corporate Group within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, joins us to share his experiences in the public sector of Taking the Path Less Travelled.
As an experienced public servant, Martin has led teams in the Commonwealth and ACT governments. In this episode, he takes us back to the start of his senior leadership career by providing us with invaluable insights into how he has adapted his leadership style to take on a new role in a new department, and how the importance of communication helped him to navigate unfamiliar territory where his team increased by a factor of 20.
Martin also shares the importance that a couple of mentors played at this time in his career in helping him to stay real and honest with himself, which are invaluable attributes today for leading authentically. He also shares his key learnings from experiences in putting together multi-disciplinary teams and how fostering creative tension respectfully and engagingly can contribute to making sure that the right outcomes are achieved.
This open and honest conversation with Martin has many great takeaways, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Listen to episode eight:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Martin Hehir
Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer
Governance and Corporate Group
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Martin is the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the Governance and Corporate Group within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, where he is responsible for the administration of the Executive Branch of Government, the management of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, Ministerial Support, and the department's internal Corporate functions.
Before joining the Department in January 2024, Martin was the Deputy Secretary of Workplace Relations where he lead a range of industrial relations policy and programs. During his time in this role, Martin successfully delivered key legislation for the Government in relation to workplace relations, family and domestic violence leave, protecting worker’s entitlements and work health and safety measures. This included deep engagement and liaison across a variety of key stakeholders. Martin was awarded a Public Service Medal in June 2023 for outstanding public service in relation to workplace relations policy and employment services.
Prior to his role in the Workplace Relations space, Martin has held several deputy secretary positions in federal government during his career. He has been responsible for areas including developing a new employment services model; work, health and safety policy; and small business and industrial relations policy. Before this, Martin Worked as Deputy Secretary for Schools and Youth in the former Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the former Department of Education, dealing with the Australian Education Act, and associated funding mechanisms.
He has also held a number of positions in ACT Government, including as the Director-General of the Community Services Directorate, ACT Government. Martin also holds an Economics Degree from the Australian National University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Six with Erma Ranieri
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.
Welcome back to our weekly podcast series on Thriving in Uncertainty, where we spotlight leaders who have gotten comfortable in ambiguity and hear their professional stories of overcoming challenges to navigate change successfully.
As the final states send their kids back to school over the next week, many parents will be thinking about the year ahead for their children and what they’ll learn; others may be excited for their children as they take their next steps into their tertiary education, or even possibly start their own professional career in their given field.
Whatever the case, 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.
Erma also talks about how important it is for every generation to be clear on their own sense of purpose and how, even with the best technological skills, future leaders must also be self-aware, vulnerable, and resilient, ensuring that human interactions and connecting with each other are valued.
Erma shares examples of some of the numerous mentoring programs that she’s led, detailing what it means for leaders to take a whole-person approach to support their workforce’s mental health and how she’s used her past setbacks to forge a new path for others in avoiding the disadvantages that she encountered earlier in her career.
It’s a powerful conversation that will leave you wanting to make a difference in supporting those around you.
Listen to episode six:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
References from this episode:
Conversations matter – Case managers guide to mental health support
The Happiness Expert That Made 51 Million People Happier: Mo Gawdat
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Erma Ranieri
Commissioner for Public Sector Employment
South Australia
Appointed as Commissioner for Public Sector Employment in 2014, Erma Ranieri is driven to create a world-leading public sector that makes a difference for the South Australian community through an agile, flexible, and inclusive workplace.
Throughout her extensive career in the public and private sectors, her dynamic and inclusive leadership style has helped organisations optimise productivity while also enhancing employee wellbeing.
Erma was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2021 Australia Day Honours list, for her long-standing advocacy of gender equality, diversity and disability employment and her commitment to public sector reform.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Five
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.
Thank you for joining us for our new podcast series on Thriving in Uncertainty, where we spotlight leaders who have gotten comfortable in ambiguity and hear their professional stories of overcoming challenges to navigate change successfully.
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.
While Kate may not have a crystal ball to predict the skills a 5-year-old will need to thrive in a 22nd-century workforce, she offers fascinating perspectives and insights drawn from both her public sector career and her lived experiences.
Through her work with teenagers in her charity, she explores what they want from leaders today and how many question or reject the long-standing assumptions about the world of work that have persisted for generations. Listen in as Kate moves beyond the excitement of science fiction hype to provide pragmatic insights on the jobs and industries of the future, framing the importance of sustaining and improving life for humans at scale.
Listen to episode five:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Links to information sources mentioned in this episode:
Foundation for Young Australians research - Our Reports: The New Work Order Series - FYA
Dr Laurie Santos, Yale University - The Science of Well-Being | Yale Online
Dr Angela Duckworth - https://angeladuckworth.com/
Organisational links:
IPAA ACT - Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT) Limited |
IPAA National - Institute of Public Administration Australia | IPAA National Website
The CoRE Learning Foundation - Leading Foundation Education & Learning Centre in Australia
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Kate Driver
Chief Executive Officer
IPAA ACT
Co-founder and board member of the
CoRE Learning Foundation
After starting her career as a private practice Barrister and Solicitor, Kate realised that she was destined to follow a less “planned” but more “intentional” path, with careers and roles that better aligned with her personal and professional values. So she left behind the view of Sydney Harbor and unfulfilling hours at the desk, and returned home to Canberra where she began an eclectic career working in the Commonwealth Public Sector. Kate was appointed as the CEO of IPAA ACT in January 2024.
Kate describes herself as the quintessential “accidental public servant”. After she took a 6 month contract in the APS, she found herself in a rewarding public sector career spanning almost two decades. Her career mantra has been “good things with good people”. She has worked across a variety of roles as a senior executive in public policy and programs, HR and corporate services, property and security, policy implementation and National Cultural Institutions.
In addition to her professional executive career, Kate is a philanthropic leader, working across a variety of Australian charities and not-for-profit enterprises, including co-founding the CoRE Learning Foundation. Kate is a proud Auntie and Auntie Mother to some wonderful First Nations young people, and is a passionate advocate for inclusion and belonging.
That was the last episode of Thriving in Uncertainty for 2024.
Tune in on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, as we return with our series and are joined by Martin Hehir, Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the Governance and Corporate Group within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, as he talks about taking the path less travelled.
Thriving in Uncertainty – episode one
In today’s episode, Janet Schorer, a senior public sector leader and Chief Delivery Officer at TAFE NSW, joins us to discuss growth and adaptability.
In this uplifting chat, Janet shares her experiences from her early career, how other leaders helped her grow and develop, and how she leans on these experiences to help others grow and develop today. She also explains how important it is for leaders to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, acknowledging that the world is now different from what it was, that workplaces themselves are different too, and that it’s through a connection with purpose that you can keep yourself, and your team, motivated through times of continuous change and uncertainty.
Thanks for joining us as we kick off our new weekly series of Trailblazing with CorbettPrice!
Each week, we will spotlight senior, inspirational leaders from across the public sector who have gotten comfortable in ambiguity as they share personal experiences throughout their careers around the importance of adaptability for growth, developing the next generation of leaders, taking the path less travelled and learning from failure to achieve success. They also reflect on the key leaders who inspire them and have helped them become the leaders they are today.
In today’s episode, Janet Schorer, a senior public sector leader and Chief Delivery Officer at TAFE NSW, joins us to discuss growth and adaptability.
In this uplifting chat, Janet shares her experiences from her early career, how other leaders helped her grow and develop, and how she leans on these experiences to help others grow and develop today. She also explains how important it is for leaders to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, acknowledging that the world is now different from what it was, that workplaces themselves are different too, and that it’s through a connection with purpose that you can keep yourself, and your team, motivated through times of continuous change and uncertainty.
Listen to episode one:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Janet Schorer
Chief Delivery Officer
TAFE NSW
With 20 years of senior public sector experience, Janet has led educational and community transformation programs, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, workforce strategy, and the Families NSW strategy for the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. Janet has a passion for children and young people, with a background in nursing and child and adolescent psychology, previously serving as the NSW Children’s Guardian and receiving a Public Service Medal for outstanding service, particularly through the protection of children. She is a National Fellow of IPAA and the Vice President of IPAA NSW.
Series three – Solving the Capability Gap – episode two
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.
Welcome back to the second episode of our new podcast series on Solving the Capability Gap.
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.
Across the world, organisations are grappling with skills shortages. According to LinkedIn data, on an individual level, the skills needed for a given position are shifting and are expected to double by 2027, leaving a high number of employees who require training and capability development.
However, the potential of untapped latent or adjacent skills within the workforce is intriguing, presenting organisational leaders with an excellent opportunity to identify, develop, and nurture these skills to create an engaged workforce capable of driving their organisation forward.
Listen in as Julie Tickle, Chief People Officer at TAFE NSW, joins Andy to share her extensive experience in how organisations can become more skills-based in their talent strategy. Listen in as Julie answers compelling questions covering important topics such as skills versus qualifications, human skills versus technical skills, how TAFE uses skills-based approaches in its talent strategy, and how to measure skills initiatives.
Listen to episode two:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Download the full transcript of episode two:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Julie Tickle is a respected educational leader, with over two decades of experience in the VET sector as teacher, mentor and executive. In her role as Chief People Officer for TAFE NSW Julie oversees the attraction, development and retention of a capable, engaged, and adaptable workforce of over 15,000.
She is responsible for ensuring TAFE NSW operates in a safe, diverse, and inclusive work environment, and her team ensures TAFE NSW has the capability to deliver the best outcomes through effective people and safety processes, policies, and programs.
With TAFE NSW since 2002, Julie was initially a part-time casual teacher of Business based out of the Taree campus and remains dedicated to regional employment and educational outcomes throughout NSW. She has held a wide range of positions including Head Teacher of both online and on-campus faculty teams, Business Development Consultant, Manager Curriculum Development, Faculty Director, Leader Organisational Workforce Development and Head of Organisational Development and Talent Management.
Remaining dedicated to supporting individuals to reach their potential, Julie holds a Masters in Adult Education and Training, Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Graduate Diploma of Education, Leadership and Sustainability and the current Cert IV Training and Assessment qualification in order to remain connected to teachers. She is an Alumni of the NSW Public Sector Leadership Academy and a keen mentor of emerging leaders in the sector.
Julie is a member of the DEWR VET Workforce Blueprint Steering Committee, TAFE Director’s Australia Workforce Network and the National VET Educator Development Network. Her team designed and implemented the successful Paid to Learn teacher attraction and retention program to support an ongoing commitment to solving the VET teacher shortage in NSW, which has become the benchmark for innovative attraction strategies across the sector.
Julie is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and is a member of the NSW Public Service Disability Steering Committee, Co-chair of the TAFE NSW Diversity & Inclusion Council and executive sponsor of the Aboriginal Strategic Leadership Group and Aboriginal Employment Strategy. She has strategic oversight of the inaugural TAFE NSW Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Plan which launched in 2023 as well as TAFE Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, Disability and Inclusion Action Plan and Multicultural Action Plan.