5.4 APS professions

The APS Professions model was established to support the attraction, development and retention of specialist skills in critical areas of demand. To date, three APS Professional Streams are working to improve overall APS capability – digital, data and HR.

Over three years, the professions have matured, with growing community membership. Each delivers targeted capability strategies and frameworks, learning and career development offerings for staff, entry level programs, and cross-APS skilling and sharing opportunities.

Now, APS Professions and the APS Academy are coming together to better align delivery on the intended capability uplift and provide a more seamless experience for learners. Work is also underway to establish a professions threshold model so the APS prioritises and invests in the right workforce capability initiatives to deliver on long-term capability uplift requirements and support a greater level of mobility across the public service.

Digital professional stream

The Digital Professional Stream had more than 7,100 members from all tiers of government as at September 2022. Members benefit from access to career development and training, mobility opportunities, networking and mentorship.

Under the leadership of its inaugural Head of Profession, Mr Randall Brugeaud, the Digital Profession has made significant progress in developing digital capability in the APS that is essential for transforming the design and delivery of services to the Australian community. Key initiatives in 2021–22 included:

• An online community platform is drawing a large number of practitioners and experts to one place to connect, share knowledge, experiences and capability.
• APS Career Pathfinder tool enhancements, developed in collaboration with other government agencies, are enabling workforce managers to search for talent based on the skills required, mapped against over 180 digital roles.
• Digital entry-level programs received over 1,650 applications for 2023, providing a critical digital pipeline of talent into the APS to address the skills shortage.
• A network of over 250 digital leaders across the APS has been established alongside a process to support the recruitment of senior digital leaders.
• A successful pilot to test the effectiveness of short-term APS mobility opportunities or micro-assignments was completed. Functionality is now built into the APSJobs website to better support mobility across the APS.
• Industry partnerships have been established to deliver targeted programs, and facilitate development opportunities, particularly in identified critical disciplines.
• A digital capability measurement framework has been developed to assess the impact of Digital Profession initiatives against one or more capability measurement levers of attraction, retention, development and deployment.

Randall Brugeaud, Head of the Australian Simplified Trade System Implementation Taskforce, was appointed in 2020 and finishes his term in this role in December 2022. Chris Fechner, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Transformation Agency, begins as Head of the Digital Professional Stream for a two-year term in January 2023.

Data professional stream

The Data Professional Stream aims to promote a data-driven culture in the APS, to support evidence-based policy making and citizen-centric program and service delivery. At August 2022, it had more than 2,100 members.

Led by Dr David Gruen, the Data Professional Stream is working with partners on these initiatives:

• APS data graduate recruitment – the ABS is leading a recruitment program for data graduates, for positions starting in 2023. There is over 1,600 applications for data analyst, data scientist, and statistical methodologist roles across more than 30 APS agencies.
• Growing data talent pipelines – the ABS is partnering with the APSC to create data career opportunities with a focus on growing talent outside major capital cities. From 2023, four APS Academy Campuses will be established at Newcastle, Townsville, Darwin and Launceston.
• Data roles and the APS Data Capability Framework – the Australian Taxation Office has led a project to develop a universal understanding of data profession roles and capabilities. These are mapped to the framework, which details 26 data-specific capabilities for data proficiency areas across the APS.
• Data profession community platform – the Stream has collaborated with the Digital Profession to offer an online Member Community Platform. The platform offers members a space to connect with other data professionals, providing information on mobility opportunities, events and learning resources.

L&D opportunities for the Stream include:

• Graduate data modules – the Department of Education has developed a development module to provide data graduates with a broader appreciation of working with data in a government context. A pilot program will be delivered in early 2023.
• Data literacy learning pathways – Services Australia has developed data literacy pathways to provide APS employees with foundational data skills.
• Data capability development of the SES – the Department of Industry, Science and Resources has produced a guide for SES which outlines a framework for influencing with data. The ABS has collaborated with the Australian National University to develop a modularised SES Data Leadership course for the SES.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, was appointed Head of the Data Professional Stream in 2020. 

Discover more about digital and data cadet programs in the APS

HR professional stream

The HR Professional Stream was established to attract, build and retain strategic HR capability across the APS. It now has over 4,000 members. Initiatives in 2021–22 have included:

• Mobility bulletin – releasing a regular mobility bulletin promoting secondment and temporary transfer opportunities, with over 50 agencies promoting more than 260 opportunities in 2021–22.
• APS HR Graduate Program – continuing to lead the streamlined and centralised entry level development programs for HR graduates, with over 30 partner agencies participating in 2022. Onboarding is underway for 2023 and recruitment is being planned for 2024.
• Australian Government Human Resource School Leavers Program – after a successful pilot in 2022, recruitment for the 2023 program is underway with 16 partner agencies placing up to 43 HR school leavers. Participants will undertake a Certificate IV in HR as part of the program.
• HR Panellist initiative – continuing to support agencies with strategic HR leader recruitment by providing APS HR experts to sit on recruitment panels for key HR leadership roles.
• Community engagement and events:
  • newsletters – bi-monthly and in-depth communications to the network to highlight best practice from across the APS and the private sector
  • networking events – allowing HR professionals from the same region to come together and network with the HR Head of Profession and other senior HR leaders.
• Capability development opportunities include:
   
  • HR Foundational learning modules – launching four foundational HR learning modules for those new to the profession or to the APS. They were developed in partnership with subject matter experts from across the APS and can be accessed through the APS Academy.
  • Webinars – showcasing innovative and interesting HR topics and case studies and providing an opportunity for the HR professional network to ask questions of subject matter experts.
  • Immersive program – building capability across a specifi  HR area, this program gives APS HR professionals the opportunity to work in, or closely with, another agency and receive a development opportunity tailored to their needs. A successful pilot ran on workforce planning and a HR Business Partnering Program will begin at the end of 2022.

Jacqui Curtis PSM, Chief Operating Officer of the Australian Taxation Office, was appointed Head of the HR Professional Stream in 2019.