IPAA Victoria celebrates the public purpose sector

To celebrate United Nations Public Service Day, IPAA Victoria has launched a campaign to highlight some of the important and innovative work being delivered by the public purpose sector.

Over the past six weeks or so, IPAA Victoria has proudly delivered our campaign to commemorate United Nations Public Service Day and celebrate the role of public service.

We have produced a series of stories that celebrate the work of the sector and showcase the breadth and depth of skills and outstanding achievements here in Victoria.

To cap off this campaign, we have published a short highlights reel of the stories profiled during the campaign as well as some of the people and teams celebrated through IPAA Victoria’s most recent Awards processes.

Highlight reel

Campaign highlights

John Bradley, President – IPAA Victoria

IPAA Victoria President John Bradley has recorded a short message to launch the campaign and provide some of his reflections on what it means to be a public servant. John commends the standout efforts of the public service in working through and innovating during the pandemic to support the community in a challenging and disruptive time. John’s sentiment is that “there’s been nothing that matches the standout efforts of the public service in working through and innovating during the pandemic to support community at a really challenging time”.

Y Le , Director of Affordable Housing and Social Investment Group – Homes Victoria

In our Public Sector Perspectives series, we speak with Y Le – Director of Affordable Housing and Social Investment Group at Homes Victoria, which sits within the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Y discusses new ways of tackling housing, public policy and the importance of the public service. Sitting within the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Homes Victoria work across government, industry and the social housing and homelessness service sectors to provide stable and secure homes.

Matt Gibbs, Communications Officer – Borough of Queenscliffe

As Australia’s last remaining borough, and the smallest local government area in Victoria, the Borough of Queenscliffe is a tourist haven in the summer and is home to a population of 3,000 permanent residents.

In our interview with Matt, he describes the improvements that he implemented to redesign all of the Borough's communication assets, including not only the website, its architecture and re-writing of page content, but also building the Borough’s Facebook page from scratch, which enabled residents to have a “digital front door” into the council’s news and updates. Matt was also the recipient of the Young Achiever Award at the LGPro 2022 Excellence Awards.

Department of Justice and Community Safety

In our profile of Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS), we explore how they create a justice and community safety system that works together to build a safer, fairer and stronger Victoria through their Landmate and Greyhound rescue initiatives.

Delivered in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Landmate is a highly successful program that has provided labour for environmental projects throughout regional Victoria for 25 years. For more than a decade, the Greyhound Adoption Program has been another avenue for prisoners to learn valuable skills and give back to the local community. This program is part of the Prison Pet Partnership between Corrections Victoria and Greyhound Racing Victoria.

Ben Rimmer, Associate Secretary – Department of Families, Fairness and Housing/CEO – Homes Victoria

In our Public Sector Perspectives series, we speak with Ben Rimmer, Associate Secretary at Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Victoria and CEO, Homes Victoria, who discusses the highlights of his distinguished career, his perspectives on State–Commonwealth relations post-election and his take on the value of the public sector.

Sandra Parker – Fair Work Ombudsman

We profile the significant contributions made by the Fair Work Ombudsman to advocate for, protect and foster harmonious, productive, cooperative and compliant workplaces in Australia.

In our interview with the Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker, we heard her perspective on the value of the public purpose sector for the community.

The interview explores why a career in the public sector is rewarding. Sandra talks about her diverse career journey and outstanding achievements, her motivations to give back to the community, and the importance of upholding standards of ethics and conduct and public servants acting as role models.

IPAA Victoria exists to celebrate and tell the delivery story of the public purpose sector, and our Leadership in the Public Sector Awards and Top 50 Public Sector Women Awards celebrate the everyday and extraordinary efforts by individuals, teams, departments and the community to persevere and navigate complex and unprecedented social challenges.