New Scholarship Available to Support Professional Development of Local Government Practitioners

A new $5,000 scholarship from the University of Technology Sydney Centre for Local Government is now available to support local government professionals seeking to broaden their knowledge and skills through postgraduate study. Open to Master of Local Government applicants, the scholarship will be awarded on merit.

The Master of Local Government will expand your knowledge, open new possibilities and equip you with skills to take your career to the next level.

The course:

• Is prepared with and for local government
• Allows you to gain a sound understanding of current issues in local government 
• Provides an evidence-based learning approach to build a high level of influence and leadership
• Has flexible entry requirements - we consider applicants without a degree who can demonstrate substantial relevant work experience
• Allows you to study part-time or full-time with our flexible block-delivery study mode.

Find out more!

In 2016 survey of Information Technology (IT) in local councils less than 40% of business representatives reported that IT made a positive impact on operational outcomes of their councils. Reasons vary, but the story is the same - IT teams develop strategies, deliver projects and do a lot of improvements, but benefits are not as great as originally expected.

Conventional approaches to monitoring IT progress make the issue worse as they reinforce narrow objectives and narrow vision. 'Blind spots' conceal the early stages of benefits erosion.

To lead to a greater impact, subscribe to the 2017 ICT SCAN. This annual assessment of ICT is based on industry trends and peer comparisons and serves as a touchstone to show if the intended results of ICT effort hit the mark.

There is too much at risk hinges on ICT. Contact service@tech-indicators.com or +61 2 9879 7115 to receive sample ICT SCAN dashboard.

Plan Now for 2017: Get your Contact Centre Report

With the rapid pace of change set to continue to transform service delivery in the coming years, contact centres will need to continue to evolve to remain relevant in a changing and competitive marketplace.

So what does 2017 and beyond hold for contact centres?

Ahead of Contact Centre Week 2017, taking place 22-24 February on the Gold Coast, we caught up with five different contact centres across Australia to find out the core areas they are each focusing on to prepare and create the contact centre of the future.

Download the 20+ Page Contact Centre of the Future Report Here

In this report, you can learn more about how:

• Energy Australia is introducing self-service to create a seamless customer experience
• Qantas Loyalty is understanding the entire customer journey to create meaningful customer interactions
• AMP is leveraging data and analytics to create a personalised customer experience
• The Australian Taxation office is encouraging smarter interactions with customers
• Teachers Mutual Bank is scaling their contact centre to become digitally led
• And much more

Interested in finding out more?

View the Contact Centre Week 2017 event guide to see the full speaker line-up and session outline.

Bring your community together this Australia Day with the Australian Citizenship Affirmation

Each year on 26 January citizenship ceremonies are held across the country to welcome over 16,000 new citizens to the Australian community.

Get the crowd involved by including the Australian Citizenship Affirmation in your Australia Day citizenship ceremony. The Affirmation is a short declaration based on the Australian citizenship pledge that gives all event attendees an opportunity to affirm, or perhaps reaffirm, their loyalty to Australia, along with our newest citizens. It’s a simple addition to a citizenship ceremony and is a wonderful way to bring the whole community together to celebrate our shared values on Australia Day.

To make it easy for you, we have developed affirmation cards that can be placed on seats or handed to guests as they arrive at your event. Visit australianaffirmation.org.au for more information and to order these resources free of charge.

Want to work at the pointy end of policy?

Make your mark in the public sector with this Graduate Certificate in Policy and Governance.

You don't need a degree to apply for this flexible, online course. All you need is real world experience and a keen interest in getting the skills and confidence to become a key player in policy development. The course was designed with the Queensland Public Service Commission, which means it's career-focused and hands on. And best of all it can be completed in just one year. So why not put yourself in a position of influence?

• Learn from policy and governance experts in the real world
• Learn how to present briefing notes, reports and Cabinet submissions, as well as understand the complex structure of government and its functions
• Course delivered completely online - complete learning items within units as quickly as you like.

Apply now.