In recognition of the increasing importance of the Local Government sector in the area of developing sustainable communities, Australia’s premier educational institution, the Australian National University has committed to producing a high quality, academically rigorous, and practical course in Public Policy for Local Government professionals.
Offered through the Graduate Program in Public Policy, the newly developed Graduate Certificate in Public Policy (Local Government) will be delivered by leading academic staff and expert practitioners gathered from across Australia.
Building capacity in Australian communities is one of the most important tasks of the future.
As identified by the Community Wellbeing and Lifestyle Working Group at last year’s Regional Summit, ‘community capacity is the essential element to taking control of change’.
A significant number of recommendations from this and other Working Groups emphasised the need for many communities to have an enhanced skills base and stronger leadership capacity to enable them to embrace change and effectively capitalise on the opportunities it presents.
Improving leadership, knowledge and skills is the key to developing communities with capacity (Summit Steering Committee Interim Report, April 2000).
The ANU has taken up this challenge designing a course specifically for Local Government practitioners that will address the issues that are facing our communities on a daily basis.
The University is providing an opportunity for Local Government to benefit from close access to the Commonwealth Government, program officers and a professional network to learn how to build the capacity of your community to recognise and reach its potential.
An additional feature of this course is the inclusion of a unique module concentrating on submission writing skills.
As we are all very much aware, Council staff are constantly being faced with demanding applications for various specific programs to access funding for our communities.
This program is offering a specialised intensive program on learning how to achieve results in the funding arena.
The Graduate Certificate program is being offered in Canberra, at the newly opened Sir Roland Wilson Building, in October this year.
This Certificate unit may transfer with credit to the ANU Graduate Diploma or Master’s degree in Public Policy.
