ACT Region
Welcome to the ACT Region Page
| ACT Regional Chair: | Robyn Hardy |
| ACT Regional Vice Chair: | Troy Watkins |
| Contact Email: | act@cipsa.com.au |
| Click here for ACT events | events@cipsa.com.au |
Latest News and Events
APCC launch new capability guide at Public Sector Conference
The 3rd Public Sector Procurement Forum (PSPF3) proved another successful CIPSA conference event at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on 21-22 May 2008. Although developed and run by CIPSA, this event is endorsed and supported by both the Australian Procurement and Construction Council [APCC] and the federal Department of Finance & Deregulation [DoFD] – Minister Lindsay Tanner’s department.
More than 200 people attended the event, with 94% delegates rating the event as Excellent or Good. Highlights included excellent case study presentations from three governments (WA, QLD and NZ) as well as an introduction to new federal procurement initiatives from John Grant, first assistant secretary at DoFD. A fascinating comparison of the private sector approach to strategic procurement from Craig Lardner, CPO at George Weston Foods also impressed delegates. Although after-dinner speaker Bob Carr stole the show, proving his mastery of public speaking at the event dinner on the evening of 21st May.
This was the first PSPF event that included seminar streams in addition to the 11 key note speakers presented. 13 seminars covered learning topics relevant to public sector procurement practitioners day-to-day challenges with the aim of helping people do a better job as soon as they get back to the office.
The APCC officially launched their new ‘Building Government Procurement Capabilities’ guide. Introduced by Chair of the APCC Skills Committee, John Tondut, Exec Director, OGP, WA DTF, this Guide is an aspirational document and has been produced to provide direction on the development of public sector capabilities and professionalism as well as to set target benchmarks for Australian and New Zealand public sector procurement workforces. It succeeds the earlier version first published in November 2006 and includes in a supplement a useable and comprehensive capability matrix for public sector procurement professionals, which was developed with significant input from CIPS, and benchmarks well against global best practice standards. A PDF version of the Guide and Supplement are available for free download at www.apcc.gov.au
Plans are already being developed for next year’s event, which will be even larger and is likely to move to a new time slot in the calendar. Ideas for inclusion in the event are welcomed by CIPSA producer, Nigel Wardropper at nigelw@bttbonline.com . Further details of the PSPF4 event will be available on www.cipsaconferences.com.au as part of the 2009 programme in due course.
New Financial Year Training opportunities – a world of opportunities.
New Financial Year! Need a training plan? CIPSA Open Training schedule has been supporting Procurement teams in Australia and NZ throughout 2007/08
Over 300 different organisations sent their team to CIPSA training events this financial year! Contact CIPS Australia to provide your team with relevant practical training that makes an impact on performance”
Email edward.rayner@cipsa.com.au or call 1300 765 142 or +61 3 9629 6000 for more information, on any of the above products.
Open Training Courses Booking Out Quickly
Courses are filling up quickly for CIPSA’s 2008 Open Training programme. Almost 300 places have been booked, so to avoid disappointment, book your place now!
The programme offers a wide range of non-assessed training courses designed to enhance procurement skills and disseminate relevant professional knowledge quickly and easily. To view a list of courses available visit http://www.cips.org/membership/australia/opentraining/
Download the full PDF brochure here (1.8 MB)
Download an electronic booking form here. (Word).
See Terms & Conditions here
ACT Calendar of Events
Mark your diary now for these ACT events coming up in the first half of 2008. More dates will arise, so remember to keep an eye out on the ACT Events page.
The Open Training Courses for the ACT Region are finished for 2008
Contribute to your local news
Always considered yourself a bit of a Clark Kent? Procurement Super Hero by day, sleuth journalist by night? Well we would love to see your talent, and even if you don’t have the talent, we would still love to hear the gossip from your region. Got any news on movers and shakers, big contracts awarded, something local to your region, or country? Send in your article, or link to an article on the web and if we think its newsworthy we will publish it in the monthly newsletter. Deadlines for each newsletter is the last week of each month, so get in your submissions now. Submissions will be by-lined by agreement. Email news@cipsa.com.au with the subject line <Your Region> Newsletter Submission.
Meet your new Chair and Vice Chair.
ACT Chair: Robyn Hardy
Acting executive director, ACT Procurement Solutions (a division of ACT Treasury)
Robyn has had a long and varied career in the public service, both in the Commonwealth and the ACT Governments. She is an economist, having studied for her undergraduate degree at James Cook University of North Queensland. She has also completed a Masters Degree in public policy at the Australian National University (ANU) and is currently studying for her Doctorate at ANU.
Email Robyn at act@cipsa.com.au
ACT Vice Chair: Troy Watkins
Senior manager, KPMG
Troy has 20 years of experience and expertise, including consulting and operational roles in both domestic and international environments. Prior to joining KPMG, Troy was senior manager with McGrathNicol+Partners in the corporate advisory group specialising in project management, strategic
procurement and business transformation; a senior strategic procurement adviser and business analyst for Airservices Australia; a manager in the financial risk management division of the Commonwealth Bank
of Australia; and a manager with Ernst & Young’s assurance and advisory division in Sydney, Australia.
Email Troy at act@cipsa.com.au
NZ and Australia join to make public service more sustainable
The New Zealand and Australian governments have established the first trans-Tasman joint framework for sustainable government procurement to ensure that public sector organisations in both countries consider the environmental credentials of goods and services they buy, according to www.scoop.co.nz.
The move to work with the Australians on sustainable procurement follows the New Zealand government’s recent announcement on its own mandated environmental standards, guidelines and targets for the public service.
For the full press release visit the direct link here.
