Improving workforce capability: what does ‘best practice’ look like now and into the future?

Improving workforce capability: what does ‘best practice’ look like now and into the future?

WorkUP Queensland’s Workforce Capability project is nearing the final stage of development, and we are looking forward to sharing the resulting framework with you soon.

Developed in response to ongoing workforce challenges, the framework is a practical resource to help organisations attract, recruit, and manage staff.

How will it work?

The framework is a foundational piece, highlighting what is core and common across all work settings within the Domestic, Family, Sexual Violence, and Women’s Health and Wellbeing sector across Queensland.

It articulates a shared vision of how individuals and organisations need to adapt, grow, and continuously improve to achieve the highest standards of practice.

It will do this by identifying five high-level capability domains, with supporting capabilities in each. These capabilities are unpacked in knowledge and behaviour statements across four levels of the workforce.

Practical examples of how this resource could be relevant to your work include:

  • creating and revising position descriptions and selection criteria
  • helping to guide and refine interview questions to support recruitment
  • supporting reflective performance development and appraisal conversations
  • identifying learning and development needs and training responses
  • aligning workforce capabilities with organisational strategic planning.

The framework’s implementation and application will be flexible, so you can tailor, adapt, and use what you need, with targeted support, learning, and development along the way.

If you haven’t yet connected to this project and would like to learn more, please visit the Workforce Capability Project webpage or contact John@healingfoundation.org.au

Thank you to our contributors

The development of WorkUP Queensland’s Workforce Capability project has been both a celebration of the sector’s strengths, as well as a shared discovery of what will be needed in the future.

We would like to acknowledge and thank all sector networks, WorkUP’s Reference Group, and various stakeholders who have provided specialist input and helped to shape this significant workforce initiative.

A special mention to the ‘Wise Hive’ project advisory group, who generously acted as critical friends guiding, challenging, and informing the content, look, and feel of the framework.

In collaboration with the sector, alongside Alisa Hall Consulting, WorkUP Queensland engaged in candid, insightful, and sometimes challenging conversations to unpack the nature, complexity, and richness of the sector’s work. These conversations have helped to create a resource that is meaningful, inclusive, and that maintains authenticity by using sector language, and that prioritises practical use by workers, managers, and others. We look forward to sharing it with you soon.


Upcoming opportunities: scholarships and collaborative grants

Upcoming opportunities: scholarships and collaborative grants

Scholarships – round four now open!

Have you been thinking about gaining qualifications that will support you in your work and advance your career?

WorkUP Queensland is offering workers in the Domestic and Family Violence, Sexual Assault, and Women’s Health and Wellbeing sector the opportunity to receive up to $20,000 in scholarship funds.

Funded through the Office for Women, a range of opportunities are available for all staff, from frontline workers to managers.

To apply, tell us about the impact the qualification will have on your role and work within the sector, and how you will share your knowledge with colleagues. Applications must be endorsed by your employer.

Previous scholarships have covered a range of courses, including:

  • Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence Practice
  • Graduate Diploma of Domestic and Family Violence Practice
  • Master of Domestic and Family Violence Practice
  • Graduate Certificate in Applied Coaching
  • Graduate Certificate in Domestic Violence Responses
  • Graduate Certificate in Facilitating Men’s Behaviour Change
  • Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Trauma and Recovery
  • Graduate Certificate in Men’s Behaviour Change
  • Bachelor of Human Services
  • Bachelor of Psychological Science
  • Bachelor of Psychological Sciences
  • Bachelor of Social Work
  • Graduate Certificate in Business (Non-Profit and Philanthropic Studies)
  • Graduate Certificate in Business (Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies)
  • Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence Responses
  • Graduate Certificate in Mental Health and Neuroscience
  • Graduate Diploma of Counselling
  • Graduate Diploma of Mental Health
  • Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work
  • Master of Social Work
  • Master of Social Work (Professional Qualifying)

To find out how to apply click here.  

Apply now for a Collaborative Grant – up to $10 000

Did you know that WorkUP’s collaborative grants are now continuous and no longer include opening and closing dates?

If your service has an amazing idea that helps to support, connect, and retain your workforce in a sustainable way, reach out today.

WorkUP Queensland’s Collaborative Grants are designed to foster collaboration in the sector and to make ideas grow.

Projects that target 50% of the Domestic Family Violence, Sexual Assault, Women’s Health and Wellbeing sector in their grant application are eligible for consideration.

To learn more, contact Rona Scherer on 0498 443 551 or at workforce@healingfoundation.org.au


Welcome to our Sector: free online training for new workers

Welcome to our Sector: free online training for new workers

Have you recently been joined by new team members? Are you looking to recruit new staff in the near future?

If so, WorkUP Queensland, in consultation with the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research (QCDFVR), has developed the Welcome to our Sector induction program to upskill new workers.

Delivered online from 13-20 June, this free, three-part series will support new workers to become a powerful driver of change in ending violence against women. It sets workers up to succeed by supporting them to join the dots across a large and complex sector, understanding the context and the principles that underpin our work.

The series evolved from conversations across Queensland, which identified the need for greater opportunities for new workers to connect with each other and increase their understanding of the sector’s purpose, practice, and resources. It equips new workers with the foundational knowledge and connections to get started and supports workers to identify next steps in their learning journey.

The program consists of three two-hour modules:

  1. Purpose
  • Recognise the gender-based nature of violence against women
  • Identify your role in the gendered violence ecosystem
  1. Practice
  • Recognise structures, context, and boundaries within which you will work
  • Identify practice considerations for people with diverse lived experience
  1. Resources
  • Identify directives that guide your work
  • Recognise resources that inform and support your work

We encourage workers at any level, at any stage of their career in the Domestic and Family Violence, Sexual Assault, and Women’s Health and Wellbeing sector across Queensland to participate. Register here to secure your spot.

If you are interested in getting involved in co-delivering the induction program in your community or region, please reach out to Theresa Kellett theresa.kellett@anrows.org.au

Following on from this induction, WorkUP Queensland will be delivering foundation courses that will provide a deeper level of knowledge and skills required for working across the sector. Click here to be involved in consultations for new foundation courses.


Speakers announced for Solidarity Symposium 2!

Speakers announced for Solidarity Symposium 2!

Symposium 2: Justice will focus on the complexity of the justice system. Joining us, face to face in Caboolture on June 8 will be Aimee McVeigh, (CEO, QCOSS), Susan Beattie (Manager of the Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Unit, Coroners Court Qld) and Tracy Linford (QPS). Find out more about our speakers and the series here: https://workupqld.org.au/solidarity-safety-justice-wellbeing/

Joining us again will also be broadcaster, Karina Hogan who’s lived experience as survivor of domestic violence and as an Aboriginal women will help us ground the discussion. More speaker announcements to come soon. If you would like to attend the event and are a member of our target group, you can apply for assistance to travel to the event via the registration page.