IPAA Victoria’s Gain the Policy Edge course is one of our flagship professional development courses.
The five-day course equips participants with the skills needed to contribute to policy development and implementation. Discover the connection between policy development and implementation and the delivery of better services.
Overview
GTPE provides a clear learning pathway with a diverse and contemporary curriculum, emphasizing experiential learning. Participants explore modern policy concepts, including behavioural insights, co-design, and digital policy tools, while reinforcing core skills like stakeholder engagement, evidence use, and evaluation. Case studies, hands-on exercises, and a multi-day policy simulation are embedded throughout to enhance practical application and skill development.
Course Outcomes
- Apply contemporary policy concepts to design and evaluate effective public policy initiatives.
- Integrate evidence, stakeholder perspectives and political context to develop policy solutions that address complex and dynamic real-world challenges.
- Demonstrate strategic thinking in assessing anticipate policy trade-offs and impacts.
- Communicate policy ideas persuasively, adapting messages to suit diverse stakeholders and decision-making environments.
- Critically reflect on policy practice through experiential activities such as case studies and simulations.
Course audience
This course is designed for policy makers who need to understand a sound policy framework.
“A fantastic experience for someone who has been in the public sector for most of their working life but hasn’t had the in-depth training or mentoring on public policy and the art and science that goes toward creating good policy.”
— Jehad Ahlip, Victorian Institute of Teaching
“This is an outstanding course for early career policy advisers and for those seeking to build their policy capability. I left the course feeling better equipped with tools and frameworks to apply policy principles in the workplace. ”
— Vivienne O’Shannessy, Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership
“I recently attended the 5-day IPAA course titled, Gain the Policy Edge. I found the course to be both instructional and insightful to support an enhanced understanding of the development of policy-making. Even for someone like myself with considerable experience in government policy and decision-making.
I particularly found the frameworks and methodological approaches to be practical tools I can use in my day-to-day role in policy analysis. The deployment of Implementation Plans, the concept of public value and the use of case studies and policy simulation groups really made these learnings very tangible to the participants.
I highly recommend the course to any policy professional looking to enhance their understanding of government policy-making.”
— Steven Y Shepherd, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
