Advanced Leadership - leading complex systems starting on 13 October 2020
Advanced Leadership - leading complex systems starting on 13 October 2020
Only five places left - please register soon!
Building on from the recently held Growing in leadership series for emerging leaders, we are excited to be offering an important peer learning opportunity specifically designed for experienced leaders, managers and executive leaders across sexual violence, women’s health and wellbeing and domestic and family violence services.
This virtual workshop series will unpack and hone advanced leadership skills, attributes and behaviours that support the complex nature of executive leadership. Prepare for a collective deep dive into tricky and complex issues!
This two part series will be presented and facilitated by Gabrielle Borggaard Nicholson from Inner Vision Consulting. Gabrielle recently stepped out of a decade long CEO role to pursue her passion to support NGO’s, departments, leaders and practitioners to realise their vision. For more information go to: https://workupqld.org.au/whats-on/
Updated Q&A's for Panel of providers
Panel of providers
WorkUP Queensland is commencing a Standing Offer Arrangement (SOA) to establish a panel of providers to deliver professional development services for the domestic and family violence, sexual assault and women’s health and wellbeing sector.
The procurement process has been developed with independent advice for the purpose of ensuring accountability, transparency, and equity and with a view to identifying what alternative’s and options are available to support the sector in the provision of professional development services.
Establishing a panel will enable WorkUP Queensland to draw upon experts that provides the sector with professional development that is:
- highly engaging and relevant to the contemporary environment content
- designed to support sector collaboration
- agile and timely
- delivered by acknowledged experts
- high-quality
- value for money
- responsive to sector needs
- locally available
- flexible and delivered through a range of channels
- delivered in line with WorkUP Queensland’s learning principles
If you know of professional development providers who reflect the above please feel free to send them this link for the Standing Offer Arrangement, or invite them to contact us by email workforce@healingfoundation.org.au
For more information, please read the Q&A sheet.
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Panel of providers - updated Q&A's
Panel of providers
WorkUP Queensland is commencing a Standing Offer Arrangement (SOA) to establish a panel of providers to deliver professional development services for the domestic and family violence, sexual assault and women’s health and wellbeing sector.
The procurement process has been developed with independent advice for the purpose of ensuring accountability, transparency, and equity and with a view to identifying what alternative’s and options are available to support the sector in the provision of professional development services.
Establishing a panel will enable WorkUP Queensland to draw upon experts that provides the sector with professional development that is:
- highly engaging and relevant to the contemporary environment content
- designed to support sector collaboration
- agile and timely
- delivered by acknowledged experts
- high-quality
- value for money
- responsive to sector needs
- locally available
- flexible and delivered through a range of channels
- delivered in line with WorkUP Queensland’s learning principles
If you know of professional development providers who reflect the above please feel free to send them this link for the Standing Offer Arrangement, or invite them to contact us by email workforce@healingfoundation.org.au
For more information, please read the Q&A sheet.
Peer mentoring – your own safety container
Our professional lives can seem to be constantly under the pump from needing to move forward and to constantly grow and learn. Whilst professional learning and growth is important, it’s also important to stop, pay attention and be aware of what is happening for us, how we are responding and what is driving that response. Only then can we know we are moving forward in the right direction. And sometimes it’s not about moving forward, it’s about staying still and taking a moment to breathe.
For many of us, doing this alone through journaling or meditation is challenging. Particularly so, when so many of our day to day decisions about our work are made alone. Peer mentoring can feel like a soothing and comforting balm. Peer mentoring is when two or more people who share similar contexts, life experiences and challenges agree to connect for the purposes of mutual support. Not to give advice, not to judge and not to ‘stretch’ each other. Rather, to listen, to empathise, to share stories and together to create a safe container to hold the challenging stuff that is happening in your lives.
Connecting Across the Land is a peer mentoring program. It has been designed to promote a culture of care within the sexual violence, women’s health and wellbeing and domestic and family violence sector which is a key priority of the Central and South West Queensland workforce plans. It is a flexible program that will be iteratively tailored to meet the needs of participants to ensure that the connections that develop are authentic and last way beyond the semi-structured phase of the program.
You can register for Connecting Across the Land now at https://workupqld.org.au/whats-on/
to register for the information session or the whole program.
Contact Christine at WorkUP Queensland for more information:
christine@healingfoundation.org.au
0400 999 184
We would love to have you... You don’t have to fly solo!
Safe to stretch
When it comes to establishing creative and innovative workplaces ensuring a safe space is vital. When people feel that they are respected, valued and have the opportunity and resources to contribute their talents and perspectives everyone benefits through increased creativity, innovation and productivity.
“When we speak, listen and think well together there's greater productivity,” says Jan. “When we're psychologically safe to challenge ourselves that's where creativity, innovation and collaboration happens.”
A safe space though doesn’t mean a space for avoiding disagreements. “It’s about ensuring people feel safe to bring their whole self to whatever it is that they're doing.”
If teams are to learn together, they must be able to ‘think together’ which requires that they develop the disciplines of dialogue and discussion. In productive, creative and meaningful conversations team members must suspend assumptions, listen, speak openly, share meaning and allow new insights to develop in the process of thinking together about complex issues.
Jan Ungerer has worked with countless individuals, teams and organisations to develop meaningful change. Jan is presenting two upcoming workshops ‘Safe to Stretch’ and ‘Ideas to Action’ for WorkUP Qld throughout August and September. Jan shares some insights about these upcoming workshops that have a focus on developing team cultures that enable creativity and innovation.
Jan is looking forward to equipping participants with knowledge, confidence and strategies for creating a culture where everyone is expected and encouraged to create and innovate, bringing the best ideas to life.
You can find out more about Jan and her work at www.insightfulcommunications.com.au.
You can register and find out more here
Contact Christine at WorkUP Queensland on 0400 999 184 or email christine@healingfoundation for more information.
Cultural consciousness
Cultural consciousness
Over the next few months we will be exploring themes around cultural consciousness and cultural humility and what it means for our sector.
Cultural humility enables us to increase our ability to see things from other's viewpoints and helps us to be able to work better together across the sector, by understanding different cultural backgrounds. It encourages us to challenge power imbalances and to be more self reflective of our beliefs and our behaviours.
We will start with talking about cultural awareness.
For over 60,000 years, Australia has had extremely diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
It was estimated that prior to 1788, Australia had over 500 clan groups/nations with many distinctive cultures, beliefs, law and languages.
That number has obviously declined due to the impacts of colonisation and other contributing factors but as a frontline service worker, are you meant to know all these differing Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander cultures when we provide services and supports to them?
How do we know the nuances that make up body language in communities from Far North Queensland? Are you supposed to know the complex interactions and relationships between community members in South West Queensland?
These questions although common, can be at least looked at through the lens of cultural awareness or competency to better understand how you can process these cultural distinctions about the clients and communities you work with.
Cultural awareness
The question is often asked “Why do I need to do cultural awareness?”
The simple answer is that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and communities you work with, will appreciate your help and your willingness to walk and talk with them.
A good definition of cultural awareness is:
“Someone's cultural awareness is their understanding of the differences between themselves and people from other countries or other backgrounds especially differences in attitudes and values."
It’s a process of becoming sensitive and aware to the existence of cultural practices from outside your own. In a practical sense, this often means a short workshop where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history is explained as an overview and considered in the context of traditional life, spirituality, relationships, lore and impacts of colonisation.
The purpose of cultural awareness is to create a space in which to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities with an understanding of the differences and issues that have impacted on them.
So the next time you have an opportunity to participate in cultural awareness training or engage in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients or communities, take it. Don’t miss the opportunity to find out more and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders sharing their culture.
“Here in Australia we’re fortunate enough to have one of the richest and oldest continuing cultures in the world. This is something we should all be proud of and celebrate.”
Dr Tom Calma AO, Co-Chair Reconciliation Australia
Practice principles, standards and guidance for domestic and family violence services
Practice principles, standards and guidance for domestic and family violence services
As we are all developing a deeper understanding of the newly released Practice principles, standards and guidance for domestic and family violence services in Queensland, WorkUP Queensland is looking at them with a workforce lens.
The practice standards are informed by theoretical frameworks already familiar to many services. The updated standards support best practice by reflecting years of collective wisdom from across the sector. The theoretical frameworks underpinning the standards include but are not limited to a gendered analysis for understanding DFV, social justice and human rights principles, the psychosocial model, intersectional analysis and family systems theory.
WorkUP Queensland team members will be attending the DCSYW webinars to connect with the sector and deepen our understanding of these practice standards. We are interested in exploring how our work aligns with these standards and if the standards provide insight into the development or implementation any of our future activities supporting the capability and capacity of the workforce.
To learn more about the Practice Standards you to view them here. Let us know if you have any reflections you would like to share – check out our Facebook group.