Agenda
- 18 - 20 June 2024
- Canberra Rex Hotel
Ross Monaghan
Vice Chair
IABC APAC Region
- Exploring the role of communications in a rapidly changing digital environment
- Understanding the importance of being able to adapt to rapidly changing communication channels and environments
- Unpacking the new skills and resources needed to adapt to the way humans now consume information
- Examining how to make the case for new skill sets and new roles to meet modern challenges
Tim Price
Director Strategic Communications & Content
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Canada’s City of Ottawa has experienced unprecedented natural disasters every year for the past seven years.
- Understanding how the municipality’s communications team was pivotal in ensuring residents received critical information, through every emergency’s response and recovery
- Exploring how despite the high pressure and intensity of the work, the team’s engagement has continued to increase.
- Examining the successes, the mistakes, and the lessons learned during these challenging times that impacted employee engagement, and the work that continues to take place to improve the workplace.
Andrea Lanthier-Seymour
Chief Communications Officer
City of Ottawa 
- Examining the value of collaborative communications across departments and ministers.
- Overcoming organisational and cultural resistance to change by gaining buy-in for new methods, means and modalities through aligned communication.
- Building capacity on a budget: tactics for doing more with less via inter-sector pollination
- Clearing bureaucratic Hurdles: Navigating bureaucratic complexities for efficient data sharing and whole of government impact.
- Being prepared to communicate fast and accurately in times of crisis and through issues.
Moderator:
Ross Monaghan
Vice Chair
IABC APAC Region
Panellists:
Timothy Price
Director Strategic Communications & Content
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager, ‘2023 Social Media Professional of the Year’
King County, WA 
Andrea Lanthier-Seymour
Chief Communications Officer
City of Ottawa
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
- Identifying the best platforms, tools, apps and technologies for delivering citizen-centric government
- Understanding that technology is just a means to an end, not an end in itself
- Managing the culture shift – from top down to outside in communications and engagement
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time
Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, Attorney-General’s Department
Once you leave this presentation, you should be able to answer:
- What is behavioural science and how is it applied to energy policy?
- How can behavioural science be used in public communications?
- What are the impacts of mis/disinformation on the renewable energy transitions
- How can we combat mis/dis information using behavioural science?
- Why is monitoring and evaluating what we do so important?
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
- Developing cross departmental and inter-agency collaboration to counter capacity shortfalls and pool resources
- Identifying ways to leverage content to meet multiple needs and channels
- Building the business case and demonstrating value to gain support for budget support
- Working with partners to amplify your message and reach
- Quantifying impact: Understanding how to demonstrate the value and importance of the comms function to senior leadership
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Leveraging a unique methodology for developing social licence to build and maintain stand out levels of project awareness, understanding and support.
- Exploring how Cross River Rail has built and measured its social licence
- Unpacking strategies used to rebuild social licence whenever the project faced challenges.
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
- Examining how to proactively manage more immediate, direct engagement with the public
- Understanding how to manage the expectations of a public who often want an immediate response to their questions or posts 24/7
- Exploring how to strategically manage, monitor or moderate those who spread misinformation, use racist or sexist language, or engage in bad faith engagement
- Exploring how Inclusive language enables a diversity of people to feel valued and respected and able to contribute their talents to drive organisational performance
- Understanding how to listen to and prioritise what people with lived experiences of marginalisation are telling us about the systemic barriers they face – but, importantly, ensure those perspectives are the foundation on which we build D&I initiatives or communications that focuses on them.
- Utilising inclusive language is important and ever-changing. Should organisations, for example, use the term culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)?
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council 
- Tips for condensing long, complex information into short, succinct and easy to understand messages
- Identifying the types of messages that are best communicated via short and long form content
- Delivering consistency and a more mobile optimised social media experience to address decreasing digital attention spans
- Assessing how short form videos fit into your content strategy to gain audience attention and make your message more targeted and tailored to audience preferences
Moderator:
Seamus Boyer
Former Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Panellists:
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Identifying the appropriate digital platform, tone, and format to effectively communicate with your specific target audience
- Understanding the make or break components of a successful audience engagement strategy across digital platforms
- Educating leadership and colleagues about why it’s important to cultivate digital audiences and incorporate their feedback
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
- Lessons from the establishment of one of the first in house video teams in the Victorian Public Service.
- What are the main hurdles to overcome and risks to manage
- What are the main advantages and benefits of having an in-house team
- How do you measure and demonstrate the return on investment
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- Understand the power of personas and how they can improve your strategic communications to avoid cookie cutter approaches
- Learn about methods you can apply to undertake audience research in house and develop your personas without a budget
- By using mixed methods and applying concurrent triangulation to combine survey data, social media and media analysis and literature reviews, you can produce validated and reliable personas that put your audience first
Jessica Abramovic
Director of Strategic Communication Research and Insights
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Identifying critical success factors and pitfalls for change management communications
- Examining how to bring the whole team along for the journey
- Balancing long-term communications planning and strategy with constantly shifting short term priorities and issues
Laurie Edwards
Formerly Communications Manager
Ministry for the Environment and Sport
- Understanding how to adapt a message to meet individual audience needs, without compromising the impact of the core message
- Knowing your audience – assessing the needs, capabilities and critical success factors for communicating with diverse stakeholder groups
- Identifying when to adapt a core message for a particular audience or when to use a one-size-fits-all approach
Moderator:
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
Panellists:
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- Demystifying Generative AI (GenAI) and highlighting its potential within the public sector
- Exploring an array of cutting-edge tools that are redefining efficiency, engagement, and service
- Deep diving into the critical aspect of ‘prompting’—the art and science of crafting precise queries to elicit the most effective responses from AI
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
- Tapping into aspirational drivers for your audience to inspire positive perception and motivation
- How do you construct a narrative that activates inspiration for a desired action?
- Tapping into primal instincts and speaking to your audiences’ deepest desires
- What are the most effective content styles and formats for inspirational campaigns?
- Real-world examples of awe-inspiring campaigns – chief lessons on strategy, impact and outcome
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manage
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Understanding how the digital revolution has transformed the public sector communications profession
- Maximising strategies and tools for listening to the voice of citizens amidst the cacophony of social media
- Ensuring your messages cut through the clamour and impact the right audience
- Communicating through change – tactics and techniques for communicating clearly during periods of exponential change and transformation
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time
Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, Attorney-General’s Department
Once you leave this presentation, you should be able to answer:
- What is behavioural science and how is it applied to energy policy?
- How can behavioural science be used in public communications?
- What are the impacts of mis/disinformation on the renewable energy transitions
- How can we combat mis/dis information using behavioural science?
- Why is monitoring and evaluating what we do so important?
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
- Developing cross departmental and inter-agency collaboration to counter capacity shortfalls and pool resources
- Identifying ways to leverage content to meet multiple needs and channels
- Building the business case and demonstrating value to gain support for budget support
- Working with partners to amplify your message and reach
- Quantifying impact: Understanding how to demonstrate the value and importance of the comms function to senior leadership
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Understand the power of personas and how they can improve your strategic communications to avoid cookie cutter approaches
- Learn about methods you can apply to undertake audience research in house and develop your personas without a budget
- By using mixed methods and applying concurrent triangulation to combine survey data, social media and media analysis and literature reviews, you can produce validated and reliable personas that put your audience first
Jessica Abramovic
Director of Strategic Communication Research and Insights
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Identifying critical success factors and pitfalls for change management communications
- Examining how to bring the whole team along for the journey
- Balancing long-term communications planning and strategy with constantly shifting short term priorities and issues
Laurie Edwards
Formerly Communications Manager
Ministry for the Environment and Sport
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Leveraging a unique methodology for developing social licence to build and maintain stand out levels of project awareness, understanding and support.
- Exploring how Cross River Rail has built and measured its social licence
- Unpacking strategies used to rebuild social licence whenever the project faced challenges.
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
- Examining how to proactively manage more immediate, direct engagement with the public
- Understanding how to manage the expectations of a public who often want an immediate response to their questions or posts 24/7
- Exploring how to strategically manage, monitor or moderate those who spread misinformation, use racist or sexist language, or engage in bad faith engagement
- Exploring how Inclusive language enables a diversity of people to feel valued and respected and able to contribute their talents to drive organisational performance
- Understanding how to listen to and prioritise what people with lived experiences of marginalisation are telling us about the systemic barriers they face – but, importantly, ensure those perspectives are the foundation on which we build D&I initiatives or communications that focuses on them.
- Utilising inclusive language is important and ever-changing. Should organisations, for example, use the term culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)?
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
- Understanding how to adapt a message to meet individual audience needs, without compromising the impact of the core message
- Knowing your audience – assessing the needs, capabilities and critical success factors for communicating with diverse stakeholder groups
- Identifying when to adapt a core message for a particular audience or when to use a one-size-fits-all approach
Moderator:
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
Panellists:
Zach Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- Demystifying Generative AI (GenAI) and highlighting its potential within the public sector
- Exploring an array of cutting-edge tools that are redefining efficiency, engagement, and service
- Deep diving into the critical aspect of ‘prompting’—the art and science of crafting precise queries to elicit the most effective responses from AI
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
- Tips for condensing long, complex information into short, succinct and easy to understand messages
- Identifying the types of messages that are best communicated via short and long form content
- Delivering consistency and a more mobile optimised social media experience to address decreasing digital attention spans
- Assessing how short form videos fit into your content strategy to gain audience attention and make your message more targeted and tailored to audience preferences
Moderator:
Seamus Boyer
Former Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Panellists:
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Identifying the appropriate digital platform, tone, and format to effectively communicate with your specific target audience
- Understanding the make or break components of a successful audience engagement strategy across digital platforms
- Educating leadership and colleagues about why it’s important to cultivate digital audiences and incorporate their feedback
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
- Lessons from the establishment of one of the first in house video teams in the Victorian Public Service.
- What are the main hurdles to overcome and risks to manage
- What are the main advantages and benefits of having an in-house team
- How do you measure and demonstrate the return on investment
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- Tapping into aspirational drivers for your audience to inspire positive perception and motivation
- How do you construct a narrative that activates inspiration for a desired action?
- Tapping into primal instincts and speaking to your audiences’ deepest desires
- What are the most effective content styles and formats for inspirational campaigns?
- Real-world examples of awe-inspiring campaigns – chief lessons on strategy, impact and outcome
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manage
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Understanding how the digital revolution has transformed the public sector communications profession
- Maximising strategies and tools for listening to the voice of citizens amidst the cacophony of social media
- Ensuring your messages cut through the clamour and impact the right audience
- Communicating through change – tactics and techniques for communicating clearly during periods of exponential change and transformation
In this session, participants will have a selection of different discussion topics to choose from, where they will enjoy a peer to peer exchange of ideas and experiences with their fellow roundtable participants. The focus is on interaction, knowledge sharing, and participation.
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
Anita Agett
Assistant Secretary, Communication and Media
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
Austrade
Victoria Ngu
Social Media Specialist
City of Sydney
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
Anita Agett
Assistant Secretary, Communication and Media
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
Austrade
Victoria Ngu
Social Media Specialist
City of Sydney
- How can strategic communications and engagement be wielded as key policy levers to drive behavioural change – lessons from ACT Government’s quest for a pathway to net zero emissions by 2045
- Understanding the need for market research (pre-execution of strategy & post execution)
- Lessons learned in the first year of execution of the strategy
- Hear how they developed an Australian-first digital tool in partnership with CHOICE Magazine, which has won multiple awards
- Towards best practice – hear why the Grattan Institute and Energy Consumers Australia recognised the work as a national best practice approach for accelerating a consumer-led low-carbon energy transition.
Alexandra Magee
Executive Branch Manager, Communications, Engagement and Media
Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate
ACT Government
- Understanding government communications in the region and using trustworthy, engaging communications to promote the work the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office is doing in the Indo-Pacific
- Unpacking regional communications – how the newly formed Communications Hub is working to co-ordinate and convene communications across many Embassies and High Commissions, (across several time zones), to provide consistent effective messaging and wide-ranging campaigns
- Exploring the development of digital communications in this space as well as the importance of using Insight and Evaluation in the region to help develop/improve communications
Charlotte Daniels
Head of Indo-Pacific Communications Hub,
British High Commission Singapore
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 
Join us at the end of day one for drinks, canapes and the opportunity to network with your peers, speakers and sponsors
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Exploring how the City of Toronto used over 700 community ambassadors to increase vaccine engagement by using a ‘Get out the vote’ approach
- Understanding why a “by community for community” approach is key to target hard to reach audiences
- Unpacking why working with community can offer valuable insights into the needs and concerns of the community and help shape messages to be more relevant, targeted and meaningful
Beth Waldman
Director of Communications
City of Toronto
- Recognising the importance of internal and external comms alignment for creating a shared sense of purpose
- Inspiring and uniting staff through the power of authentic, purpose-focused internal communications
- Learning from the Japanese philosophy Ikigai on purpose
- Building an employee led value proposition founded on purpose
- The power of purpose to unify, calm, and inspire during periods of change or transition
Mark Pallot
Corporate Communications Manager
NSW Environment Protection Authority
- Understanding why culture building is a growing focus for many organisations, and how it can boost both productivity and staff wellbeing
- Examining the role of internal communication in driving the culture agenda
- Recognising the benefits of bottom up, staff led and sideways culture building strategies in addition to executive led, top down approaches
- Unpacking key strategies including the development of a staff behaviours charter, the founding and ongoing operation of a staff consultative body, and the establishment and evolution of a popular intranet.
Corrie Macdonald
Principal Communication Officer
Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water
Sam Morrison
Manager, Media and Communication
Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
- Exploring the internal challenge – defining ‘online safety’ and eSafety’s role
- Examining the external challenge – making messages stick in a slippery environment
- Understanding the challenge for everyone – what’s at stake
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- how to track and analyse your data when it is a small part of a large Australian government website
- using data analytics to guide your communications strategy
- using data analytics to reach and grow stakeholder audiences
- how to make the most of Australian government web architecture
Dr Jennifer Crone
Assistant Director – Engagement and Strategy Section, Health and Medical Research Office
Department of Health and Aged Care
- Identifying proven methods for developing a proactive crisis communications plan for cyber attack response
- Understanding the make-or-break factors for communications in the wake of a cyber attack and why it is too late to develop a cyber crisis comms plan after the horse has bolted
- Unpacking why preparedness is the number one factor in minimising reputational damage in the wake of a cyber crisis
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- The power of holistic communication strategies that seamlessly blend various channels to convey a unified message.
- How integrated communications can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased stakeholder trust, and better business results.
- The importance of breaking down silos within to foster collaboration and synergy across departments
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
Case study examples will include:
- Digital marketing: hear how GSWA raised its digital presence over social media over the last 3 years by making data-driven decisions, focusing its key messaging, and creating a ‘voice’
- GSWA Open Day: discover how GSWA levelled up its annual conference by tapping into trending themes, widening its target stakeholder groups, and creating engaging experiences
- The Geoscience Data Transformation Program: learn how GSWA has created conversations around this Program by simplifying messaging, making use of multiple communication and engagement methods, and a clean visual identity
Sabrina Bednarski
Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
Department of Energy Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (WA Government)
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Experimenting with Instagram Reels to create a successful short-form video strategy
- Using analytics to supercharge your results
- Maximising Instagram features – Stories, polls, quizzes and carousels
Heather Lansdowne
Social Media Manager
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lauren Light
Social Media Officer
Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Pushing the envelope: How to spot opportunities for experimenting with your content
- Document, document, document – some frameworks to weigh up risk across channels and topics
- How we do it: City of Sydney case studies in both playing it safe and taking risks
Donna Elkins
Digital Content Manager
City of Sydney
- Unpacking how to sell social media to your leaders – their return on investment
- Developing your leaders – Empower your leaders with LinkedIn
- Exploring getting to yes – Better understanding drives informed decision making
Brogan Goode
Social Media Manager
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Understanding factors contributing to the increased interest in ESG reporting and social impact
- The role of communications professionals in leading the ESG reporting function
- The importance of alignment
- ESG reporting as storytelling for impact
- Navigating challenges including stakeholders, transparency, data gathering and recording, and greenwashing
Bonnie Szymczak
Head of Marketing and Communications
Haven Home Safe
- Building a campaign strategy that is fundamentally evidence based
- Treading carefully when dealing with sensitive topics
- The importance of trusting experts – including yourself
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet
Attorney-General’s Department
- Exploring why social media advisors are uniquely placed to get the most out of their channels, but often just shift approved content from A to B
- Unpacking why onerous sign-off processes can erode trust and lower team morale, while producing underwhelming, ineffective outputs
- Understanding why giving teams freedom to fail can lead to better results, and how you can swap control for courage and creativity
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Deploying 200 staff and 180 interpreters across 21 locations to introduce Australia’s largest urban renewal project to retire 44 public housing towers with the promise of better homes and enriched neighbourhoods. Now, 272 days later:
- Explore the invaluable lessons learned in communication and engagement strategies
- Gain insights into fostering empathy and trust in government decision making processes regarding housing initiatives
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Navigating the crucial role of partnerships with First Nations communities and media organisations in co designing, co creating and communicating key messages and programs
- Leveraging key learnings from the Mapping the Digital Gap Project
- Creating and conveying locally targeted campaigns – lessons from COVID and the Voice Referendum
- Unpacking the challenges for effective communications
Daniel Featherstone
Research Fellow,
RMIT, Former General Manager
First Nations Media
Ben Caldwell
Communications Coordinator,
Rangitikei District Council
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Krystine Nation
Social Media Manager,
Horowhenua District Council
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
- Exploring the internal challenge – defining ‘online safety’ and eSafety’s role
- Examining the external challenge – making messages stick in a slippery environment
- Understanding the challenge for everyone – what’s at stake
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- how to track and analyse your data when it is a small part of a large Australian government website
- using data analytics to guide your communications strategy
- using data analytics to reach and grow stakeholder audiences
- how to make the most of Australian government web architecture
Dr Jennifer Crone
Assistant Director – Engagement and Strategy Section, Health and Medical Research Office
Department of Health and Aged Care
- Identifying proven methods for developing a proactive crisis communications plan for cyber-attack response
- Understanding the make-or-break factors for communications in the wake of a cyber-attack and why it is too late to develop a cyber-crisis comms plan after the horse has bolted
- Unpacking why preparedness is the number one factor in minimising reputational damage in the wake of a cyber-crisis
- Understanding factors contributing to the increased interest in ESG reporting and social impact
- The role of communications professionals in leading the ESG reporting function
- The importance of alignment
- ESG reporting as storytelling for impact
- Navigating challenges including stakeholders, transparency, data gathering and recording, and greenwashing
Bonnie Szymczak
Head of Marketing and Communications
Haven Home Safe
- Building a campaign strategy that is fundamentally evidence based
- Treading carefully when dealing with sensitive topics
- The importance of trusting experts – including yourself
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet
Attorney-General’s Department
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- The power of holistic communication strategies that seamlessly blend various channels to convey a unified message.
- How integrated communications can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased stakeholder trust, and better business results.
- The importance of breaking down silos within to foster collaboration and synergy across departments
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
Case study examples will include:
- Digital marketing: hear how GSWA raised its digital presence over social media over the last 3 years by making data-driven decisions, focusing its key messaging, and creating a ‘voice’
- GSWA Open Day: discover how GSWA levelled up its annual conference by tapping into trending themes, widening its target stakeholder groups, and creating engaging experiences
- The Geoscience Data Transformation Program: learn how GSWA has created conversations around this Program by simplifying messaging, making use of multiple communication and engagement methods, and a clean visual identity
Sabrina Bednarski
Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
Department of Energy Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (WA Government)
- Exploring why social media advisors are uniquely placed to get the most out of their channels, but often just shift approved content from A to B
- Unpacking why onerous sign-off processes can erode trust and lower team morale, while producing underwhelming, ineffective outputs
- Understanding why giving teams freedom to fail can lead to better results, and how you can swap control for courage and creativity
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Deploying 200 staff and 180 interpreters across 21 locations to introduce Australia’s largest urban renewal project to retire 44 public housing towers with the promise of better homes and enriched neighbourhoods. Now, 272 days later:
- Explore the invaluable lessons learned in communication and engagement strategies
- Gain insights into fostering empathy and trust in government decision making processes regarding housing initiatives
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Experimenting with Instagram Reels to create a successful short-form video strategy
- Using analytics to supercharge your results
- Maximising Instagram features – Stories, polls, quizzes and carousels
Heather Lansdowne
Social Media Manager
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lauren Light
Social Media Officer
Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Pushing the envelope: How to spot opportunities for experimenting with your content
- Document, document, document – some frameworks to weigh up risk across channels and topics
- How we do it: City of Sydney case studies in both playing it safe and taking risks
Donna Elkins
Digital Content Manager
City of Sydney
- Unpacking how to sell social media to your leaders – their return on investment
- Developing your leaders – Empower your leaders with LinkedIn
- Exploring getting to yes – Better understanding drives informed decision making
Brogan Goode
Social Media Manager
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Navigating the crucial role of partnerships with First Nations communities and media organisations in co-designing, co-creating and communicating key messages and programs
- Leveraging key learnings from the Mapping the Digital Gap Project
- Creating and conveying locally targeted campaigns – lessons from COVID and the Voice Referendum
- Unpacking the challenges for effective communications
Daniel Featherstone
Research Fellow
RMIT, (Former General Manager of First Nations Media)
Ben Caldwell
Communications Coordinator,
Rangitikei District Council
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Krystine Nation
Social Media Manager,
Horowhenua District Council
- Unpacking what happens when unforeseen events subvert and overwhelm business as usual
- Analysing the importance of a media strategy – pre-establishing the key lines of communication when you have limited resources, staff and time.
- Understanding how to translate scientific information for public consumption in a hurry
- Navigating a post event reflection – key learnings and evaluating comms products
Melissa Richardson
Media Affairs Manager Corporate Affairs
ANSTO
- Exploring some of the barriers faced by public sector communication professionals as governments move to more participatory forms of engagement
- Understanding the importance of clearly hearing, understanding and acting on what has been heard to better understand citizen thinking and how they feel in more participatory and deliberative forms of engagement
- Examining how emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models can make a positive contribution.
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Creating positive change is the best outcome for public sector communications and content campaigns and, in most cases, is the only true success metric. However, it’s easier said than done, especially considering the challenge of snapping people out of the indifference they might feel when they see government messages come their way. That’s where an audience first approach to content can make a big difference in ensuring the substance of your communications reaches those who can benefit from it, in meaningful and relevant ways.
Join Andrés López-Varela, General Manager of Storyation, one of Australia’s best established content agencies, to discover a simple and compelling framework for how to feature real people and their stories in your content, so you can create campaigns and messages that have a greater chance of effecting real change. During the workshop, you’ll develop your own actionable plan including how to:
- Match your messages to real stories that can bring your content to life
- Atomise your content so your stories land in the right channels for your audience
- Select the right talent and make sure you keep their story front and centre
- Assemble various real people stories into a larger campaign
Andres Lopez Varela
General Manager
Storyation
Andrés is the General Manager of Storyation and a senior marketing leader who has developed strategies targeting audiences in Australia and around the world. He has over 15 years’ experience in marketing, content, strategy and management roles working for brands like Commonwealth Bank, ACARA, Destination NSW, NRMA, Austrade, Pfizer, Symantec, and more.
He also led the content program for Tourism Australia from 2014 to 2017 where he revamped the tourism body’s content. As well as discovering an unexpected love of wombats, he evolved the way Tourism Australia tackled content by combining a data led, consumer first approach with an editorial style of content creation.
Andrés regularly judges industry awards including the Content Marketing Institute’s global CMAs, Mumbrella’s Travel Marketing, Publish and CommsCon Awards, and is a frequent contributor to industry events including State of Social, Mumbrella360, Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit and others. If you want to say hi, Andrés loves to have a chat over on LinkedIn or Threads.
In today’s uncertain and competitive work environment, public sector organisations need communication leaders with a firm grip on all areas of business to drive strategic alignment.
As a contemporary communication leader, you must equip yourself with the mindset, skills, and practical strategies to influence at the executive level, communicate with impact, and activate a thriving culture.
This workshop focuses on the core communication leadership skills you need to succeed as a public sector communication leader and deliver real value to your organisation. You will emerge prepared to think and lead strategically, generate innovative ideas, build trust, and contribute to your organisation on a strategic and senior level. Draw on the latest thinking, practical models, tools, and strategies to elevate your communication leadership presence and ignite your career.
During this empowering session, you’ll learn how to:
- Influence and engage executive level stakeholders
- Communicate with maximum impact
- Foster a culture of trust and innovation
Sia Papageorgiou
FRSA, FCSCE, SCMP, Managing Partner
Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence
Sia Papageorgiou is managing partner at the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence and Co founder of The Alignment People and Gifted Professionals & Communicators Community. She’s a multi-award-winning communication leader on a mission to elevate the value and visibility of communication professionals and help them become trusted, strategic, and in demand advisors. Sia is opinionated about what our profession can achieve and believes communication professionals have the best job in the world. She’s a certified strategic communication management professional, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and past president of the Victorian chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). She’s also a past board director at IABC Asia-Pacific and past chair of the Global Communication Certification Council. In 2021, IABC Asia-Pacific named Sia Communicator of the Year and in 2022 she was awarded the prestigious IABC Rae Hamlin Award in recognition of her exemplary service in advocating the Global Standard of the Communication Profession and evangelising the power and possibility of communication.
Ross Monaghan
Vice Chair
IABC APAC Region
- Exploring the role of communications in a rapidly changing digital environment
- Understanding the importance of being able to adapt to rapidly changing communication channels and environments
- Unpacking the new skills and resources needed to adapt to the way humans now consume information
- Examining how to make the case for new skill sets and new roles to meet modern challenges
Tim Price
Director Strategic Communications & Content
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Canada’s City of Ottawa has experienced unprecedented natural disasters every year for the past seven years.
- Understanding how the municipality’s communications team was pivotal in ensuring residents received critical information, through every emergency’s response and recovery
- Exploring how despite the high pressure and intensity of the work, the team’s engagement has continued to increase.
- Examining the successes, the mistakes, and the lessons learned during these challenging times that impacted employee engagement, and the work that continues to take place to improve the workplace.
Andrea Lanthier-Seymour
Chief Communications Officer
City of Ottawa
- Examining the value of collaborative communications across departments and ministers.
- Overcoming organisational and cultural resistance to change by gaining buy-in for new methods, means and modalities through aligned communication.
- Building capacity on a budget: tactics for doing more with less via inter-sector pollination
- Clearing bureaucratic Hurdles: Navigating bureaucratic complexities for efficient data sharing and whole of government impact.
- Being prepared to communicate fast and accurately in times of crisis and through issues.
Moderator:
Ross Monaghan
Vice Chair
IABC APAC Region
Panellists:
Timothy Price
Director Strategic Communications & Content
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager, ‘2023 Social Media Professional of the Year’
King County, WA
Andrea Lanthier-Seymour
Chief Communications Officer
City of Ottawa
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
- Identifying the best platforms, tools, apps and technologies for delivering citizen-centric government
- Understanding that technology is just a means to an end, not an end in itself
- Managing the culture shift – from top down to outside in communications and engagement
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time
Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, Attorney-General's Department
Once you leave this presentation, you should be able to answer:
- What is behavioural science and how is it applied to energy policy?
- How can behavioural science be used in public communications?
- What are the impacts of mis/disinformation on the renewable energy transitions
- How can we combat mis/dis information using behavioural science?
- Why is monitoring and evaluating what we do so important?
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
- Developing cross departmental and inter-agency collaboration to counter capacity shortfalls and pool resources
- Identifying ways to leverage content to meet multiple needs and channels
- Building the business case and demonstrating value to gain support for budget support
- Working with partners to amplify your message and reach
- Quantifying impact: Understanding how to demonstrate the value and importance of the comms function to senior leadership
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Leveraging a unique methodology for developing social licence to build and maintain stand out levels of project awareness, understanding and support.
- Exploring how Cross River Rail has built and measured its social licence
- Unpacking strategies used to rebuild social licence whenever the project faced challenges.
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
- Examining how to proactively manage more immediate, direct engagement with the public
- Understanding how to manage the expectations of a public who often want an immediate response to their questions or posts 24/7
- Exploring how to strategically manage, monitor or moderate those who spread misinformation, use racist or sexist language, or engage in bad faith engagement
- Exploring how Inclusive language enables a diversity of people to feel valued and respected and able to contribute their talents to drive organisational performance
- Understanding how to listen to and prioritise what people with lived experiences of marginalisation are telling us about the systemic barriers they face – but, importantly, ensure those perspectives are the foundation on which we build D&I initiatives or communications that focuses on them.
- Utilising inclusive language is important and ever-changing. Should organisations, for example, use the term culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)?
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
- Tips for condensing long, complex information into short, succinct and easy to understand messages
- Identifying the types of messages that are best communicated via short and long form content
- Delivering consistency and a more mobile optimised social media experience to address decreasing digital attention spans
- Assessing how short form videos fit into your content strategy to gain audience attention and make your message more targeted and tailored to audience preferences
Moderator:
Seamus Boyer
Former Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Panellists:
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Identifying the appropriate digital platform, tone, and format to effectively communicate with your specific target audience
- Understanding the make or break components of a successful audience engagement strategy across digital platforms
- Educating leadership and colleagues about why it’s important to cultivate digital audiences and incorporate their feedback
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
- Lessons from the establishment of one of the first in house video teams in the Victorian Public Service.
- What are the main hurdles to overcome and risks to manage
- What are the main advantages and benefits of having an in-house team
- How do you measure and demonstrate the return on investment
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- Understand the power of personas and how they can improve your strategic communications to avoid cookie cutter approaches
- Learn about methods you can apply to undertake audience research in house and develop your personas without a budget
- By using mixed methods and applying concurrent triangulation to combine survey data, social media and media analysis and literature reviews, you can produce validated and reliable personas that put your audience first
Jessica Abramovic
Director of Strategic Communication Research and Insights
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Identifying critical success factors and pitfalls for change management communications
- Examining how to bring the whole team along for the journey
- Balancing long-term communications planning and strategy with constantly shifting short term priorities and issues
Laurie Edwards
Formerly Communications Manager
Ministry for the Environment and Sport
- Understanding how to adapt a message to meet individual audience needs, without compromising the impact of the core message
- Knowing your audience – assessing the needs, capabilities and critical success factors for communicating with diverse stakeholder groups
- Identifying when to adapt a core message for a particular audience or when to use a one-size-fits-all approach
Moderator:
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
Panellists:
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- Demystifying Generative AI (GenAI) and highlighting its potential within the public sector
- Exploring an array of cutting-edge tools that are redefining efficiency, engagement, and service
- Deep diving into the critical aspect of ‘prompting’—the art and science of crafting precise queries to elicit the most effective responses from AI
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
- Tapping into aspirational drivers for your audience to inspire positive perception and motivation
- How do you construct a narrative that activates inspiration for a desired action?
- Tapping into primal instincts and speaking to your audiences’ deepest desires
- What are the most effective content styles and formats for inspirational campaigns?
- Real-world examples of awe-inspiring campaigns – chief lessons on strategy, impact and outcome
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manage
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Understanding how the digital revolution has transformed the public sector communications profession
- Maximising strategies and tools for listening to the voice of citizens amidst the cacophony of social media
- Ensuring your messages cut through the clamour and impact the right audience
- Communicating through change – tactics and techniques for communicating clearly during periods of exponential change and transformation
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time
Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, Attorney-General's Department
Once you leave this presentation, you should be able to answer:
- What is behavioural science and how is it applied to energy policy?
- How can behavioural science be used in public communications?
- What are the impacts of mis/disinformation on the renewable energy transitions
- How can we combat mis/dis information using behavioural science?
- Why is monitoring and evaluating what we do so important?
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
- Developing cross departmental and inter-agency collaboration to counter capacity shortfalls and pool resources
- Identifying ways to leverage content to meet multiple needs and channels
- Building the business case and demonstrating value to gain support for budget support
- Working with partners to amplify your message and reach
- Quantifying impact: Understanding how to demonstrate the value and importance of the comms function to senior leadership
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Understand the power of personas and how they can improve your strategic communications to avoid cookie cutter approaches
- Learn about methods you can apply to undertake audience research in house and develop your personas without a budget
- By using mixed methods and applying concurrent triangulation to combine survey data, social media and media analysis and literature reviews, you can produce validated and reliable personas that put your audience first
Jessica Abramovic
Director of Strategic Communication Research and Insights
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Identifying critical success factors and pitfalls for change management communications
- Examining how to bring the whole team along for the journey
- Balancing long-term communications planning and strategy with constantly shifting short term priorities and issues
Laurie Edwards
Formerly Communications Manager
Ministry for the Environment and Sport
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Leveraging a unique methodology for developing social licence to build and maintain stand out levels of project awareness, understanding and support.
- Exploring how Cross River Rail has built and measured its social licence
- Unpacking strategies used to rebuild social licence whenever the project faced challenges.
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
- Examining how to proactively manage more immediate, direct engagement with the public
- Understanding how to manage the expectations of a public who often want an immediate response to their questions or posts 24/7
- Exploring how to strategically manage, monitor or moderate those who spread misinformation, use racist or sexist language, or engage in bad faith engagement
- Exploring how Inclusive language enables a diversity of people to feel valued and respected and able to contribute their talents to drive organisational performance
- Understanding how to listen to and prioritise what people with lived experiences of marginalisation are telling us about the systemic barriers they face – but, importantly, ensure those perspectives are the foundation on which we build D&I initiatives or communications that focuses on them.
- Utilising inclusive language is important and ever-changing. Should organisations, for example, use the term culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)?
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
- Understanding how to adapt a message to meet individual audience needs, without compromising the impact of the core message
- Knowing your audience – assessing the needs, capabilities and critical success factors for communicating with diverse stakeholder groups
- Identifying when to adapt a core message for a particular audience or when to use a one-size-fits-all approach
Moderator:
Russ Vine
General Manager for Communications and Engagement
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority
Panellists:
Zach Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- Demystifying Generative AI (GenAI) and highlighting its potential within the public sector
- Exploring an array of cutting-edge tools that are redefining efficiency, engagement, and service
- Deep diving into the critical aspect of ‘prompting’—the art and science of crafting precise queries to elicit the most effective responses from AI
Zack Seipert
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
- Tips for condensing long, complex information into short, succinct and easy to understand messages
- Identifying the types of messages that are best communicated via short and long form content
- Delivering consistency and a more mobile optimised social media experience to address decreasing digital attention spans
- Assessing how short form videos fit into your content strategy to gain audience attention and make your message more targeted and tailored to audience preferences
Moderator:
Seamus Boyer
Former Strategic
Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Panellists:
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Identifying the appropriate digital platform, tone, and format to effectively communicate with your specific target audience
- Understanding the make or break components of a successful audience engagement strategy across digital platforms
- Educating leadership and colleagues about why it’s important to cultivate digital audiences and incorporate their feedback
Warren Kagarise
Digital Engagement Manager
King County, WA
- Lessons from the establishment of one of the first in house video teams in the Victorian Public Service.
- What are the main hurdles to overcome and risks to manage
- What are the main advantages and benefits of having an in-house team
- How do you measure and demonstrate the return on investment
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- Tapping into aspirational drivers for your audience to inspire positive perception and motivation
- How do you construct a narrative that activates inspiration for a desired action?
- Tapping into primal instincts and speaking to your audiences’ deepest desires
- What are the most effective content styles and formats for inspirational campaigns?
- Real-world examples of awe-inspiring campaigns – chief lessons on strategy, impact and outcome
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manage
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
- Understanding how the digital revolution has transformed the public sector communications profession
- Maximising strategies and tools for listening to the voice of citizens amidst the cacophony of social media
- Ensuring your messages cut through the clamour and impact the right audience
- Communicating through change – tactics and techniques for communicating clearly during periods of exponential change and transformation
In this session, participants will have a selection of different discussion topics to choose from, where they will enjoy a peer to peer exchange of ideas and experiences with their fellow roundtable participants. The focus is on interaction, knowledge sharing, and participation.
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
Anita Agett
Assistant Secretary, Communication and Media
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
Austrade
Victoria Ngu
Social Media Specialist
City of Sydney
Summer Goodwin
Editorial and Content Manager
CSIRO Corporate Affairs
Anita Agett
Assistant Secretary, Communication and Media
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Jenny Mina
Communications Director
Diversity Council Australia
Sharon Rosenrauch
Director, Behavioural Science Unit
Australian Government
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
Austrade
Victoria Ngu
Social Media Specialist
City of Sydney
- How can strategic communications and engagement be wielded as key policy levers to drive behavioural change – lessons from ACT Government’s quest for a pathway to net zero emissions by 2045
- Understanding the need for market research (pre-execution of strategy & post execution)
- Lessons learned in the first year of execution of the strategy
- Hear how they developed an Australian-first digital tool in partnership with CHOICE Magazine, which has won multiple awards
- Towards best practice – hear why the Grattan Institute and Energy Consumers Australia recognised the work as a national best practice approach for accelerating a consumer-led low-carbon energy transition.
Alexandra Magee
Executive Branch Manager, Communications, Engagement and Media
Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate
ACT Government
- Understanding government communications in the region and using trustworthy, engaging communications to promote the work the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office is doing in the Indo-Pacific
- Unpacking regional communications – how the newly formed Communications Hub is working to co-ordinate and convene communications across many Embassies and High Commissions, (across several time zones), to provide consistent effective messaging and wide-ranging campaigns
- Exploring the development of digital communications in this space as well as the importance of using Insight and Evaluation in the region to help develop/improve communications
Charlotte Daniels
Head of Indo-Pacific Communications Hub,
British High Commission Singapore
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Join us at the end of day one for drinks, canapes and the opportunity to network with your peers, speakers and sponsors
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Exploring how the City of Toronto used over 700 community ambassadors to increase vaccine engagement by using a ‘Get out the vote’ approach
- Understanding why a “by community for community” approach is key to target hard to reach audiences
- Unpacking why working with community can offer valuable insights into the needs and concerns of the community and help shape messages to be more relevant, targeted and meaningful
Beth Waldman
Director of Communications
City of Toronto
- Recognising the importance of internal and external comms alignment for creating a shared sense of purpose
- Inspiring and uniting staff through the power of authentic, purpose-focused internal communications
- Learning from the Japanese philosophy Ikigai on purpose
- Building an employee led value proposition founded on purpose
- The power of purpose to unify, calm, and inspire during periods of change or transition
Mark Pallot
Corporate Communications Manager
NSW Environment Protection Authority
- Understanding why culture building is a growing focus for many organisations, and how it can boost both productivity and staff wellbeing
- Examining the role of internal communication in driving the culture agenda
- Recognising the benefits of bottom up, staff led and sideways culture building strategies in addition to executive led, top down approaches
- Unpacking key strategies including the development of a staff behaviours charter, the founding and ongoing operation of a staff consultative body, and the establishment and evolution of a popular intranet.
Corrie Macdonald
Principal Communication Officer
Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water
Sam Morrison
Manager, Media and Communication
Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
- Exploring the internal challenge – defining ‘online safety’ and eSafety’s role
- Examining the external challenge – making messages stick in a slippery environment
- Understanding the challenge for everyone – what’s at stake
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- how to track and analyse your data when it is a small part of a large Australian government website
- using data analytics to guide your communications strategy
- using data analytics to reach and grow stakeholder audiences
- how to make the most of Australian government web architecture
Dr Jennifer Crone
Assistant Director – Engagement and Strategy Section, Health and Medical Research Office
Department of Health and Aged Care
- Identifying proven methods for developing a proactive crisis communications plan for cyber attack response
- Understanding the make-or-break factors for communications in the wake of a cyber attack and why it is too late to develop a cyber crisis comms plan after the horse has bolted
- Unpacking why preparedness is the number one factor in minimising reputational damage in the wake of a cyber crisis
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- The power of holistic communication strategies that seamlessly blend various channels to convey a unified message.
- How integrated communications can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased stakeholder trust, and better business results.
- The importance of breaking down silos within to foster collaboration and synergy across departments
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
Case study examples will include:
- Digital marketing: hear how GSWA raised its digital presence over social media over the last 3 years by making data-driven decisions, focusing its key messaging, and creating a ‘voice’
- GSWA Open Day: discover how GSWA levelled up its annual conference by tapping into trending themes, widening its target stakeholder groups, and creating engaging experiences
- The Geoscience Data Transformation Program: learn how GSWA has created conversations around this Program by simplifying messaging, making use of multiple communication and engagement methods, and a clean visual identity
Sabrina Bednarski
Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
Department of Energy Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (WA Government)
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Experimenting with Instagram Reels to create a successful short-form video strategy
- Using analytics to supercharge your results
- Maximising Instagram features – Stories, polls, quizzes and carousels
Heather Lansdowne
Social Media Manager
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lauren Light
Social Media Officer
Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Pushing the envelope: How to spot opportunities for experimenting with your content
- Document, document, document – some frameworks to weigh up risk across channels and topics
- How we do it: City of Sydney case studies in both playing it safe and taking risks
Donna Elkins
Digital Content Manager
City of Sydney
- Unpacking how to sell social media to your leaders – their return on investment
- Developing your leaders – Empower your leaders with LinkedIn
- Exploring getting to yes – Better understanding drives informed decision making
Brogan Goode
Social Media Manager
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Understanding factors contributing to the increased interest in ESG reporting and social impact
- The role of communications professionals in leading the ESG reporting function
- The importance of alignment
- ESG reporting as storytelling for impact
- Navigating challenges including stakeholders, transparency, data gathering and recording, and greenwashing
Bonnie Szymczak
Head of Marketing and Communications
Haven Home Safe
- Building a campaign strategy that is fundamentally evidence based
- Treading carefully when dealing with sensitive topics
- The importance of trusting experts – including yourself
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet
Attorney-General’s Department
- Exploring why social media advisors are uniquely placed to get the most out of their channels, but often just shift approved content from A to B
- Unpacking why onerous sign-off processes can erode trust and lower team morale, while producing underwhelming, ineffective outputs
- Understanding why giving teams freedom to fail can lead to better results, and how you can swap control for courage and creativity
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Deploying 200 staff and 180 interpreters across 21 locations to introduce Australia’s largest urban renewal project to retire 44 public housing towers with the promise of better homes and enriched neighbourhoods. Now, 272 days later:
- Explore the invaluable lessons learned in communication and engagement strategies
- Gain insights into fostering empathy and trust in government decision making processes regarding housing initiatives
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
- Navigating the crucial role of partnerships with First Nations communities and media organisations in co designing, co creating and communicating key messages and programs
- Leveraging key learnings from the Mapping the Digital Gap Project
- Creating and conveying locally targeted campaigns – lessons from COVID and the Voice Referendum
- Unpacking the challenges for effective communications
Daniel Featherstone
Research Fellow,
RMIT, Former General Manager
First Nations Media
Ben Caldwell
Communications Coordinator,
Rangitikei District Council
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Krystine Nation
Social Media Manager,
Horowhenua District Council
Stream A
Implementing strategic communications within shifting environments
- Exploring the internal challenge – defining ‘online safety’ and eSafety’s role
- Examining the external challenge – making messages stick in a slippery environment
- Understanding the challenge for everyone – what’s at stake
Deborah Rise
Manager, Digital Content and Publishing / Managing Editor
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- how to track and analyse your data when it is a small part of a large Australian government website
- using data analytics to guide your communications strategy
- using data analytics to reach and grow stakeholder audiences
- how to make the most of Australian government web architecture
Dr Jennifer Crone
Assistant Director – Engagement and Strategy Section, Health and Medical Research Office
Department of Health and Aged Care
- Identifying proven methods for developing a proactive crisis communications plan for cyber-attack response
- Understanding the make-or-break factors for communications in the wake of a cyber-attack and why it is too late to develop a cyber-crisis comms plan after the horse has bolted
- Unpacking why preparedness is the number one factor in minimising reputational damage in the wake of a cyber-crisis
- Understanding factors contributing to the increased interest in ESG reporting and social impact
- The role of communications professionals in leading the ESG reporting function
- The importance of alignment
- ESG reporting as storytelling for impact
- Navigating challenges including stakeholders, transparency, data gathering and recording, and greenwashing
Bonnie Szymczak
Head of Marketing and Communications
Haven Home Safe
- Building a campaign strategy that is fundamentally evidence based
- Treading carefully when dealing with sensitive topics
- The importance of trusting experts – including yourself
Lisa Ranson
Campaign Manager-One Talk at a Time, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet
Attorney-General’s Department
Stream B
Leveraging engagement and innovation for maximum impact
Chris Riordan
Manager, Creative Services
Department of Education VIC
- The power of holistic communication strategies that seamlessly blend various channels to convey a unified message.
- How integrated communications can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased stakeholder trust, and better business results.
- The importance of breaking down silos within to foster collaboration and synergy across departments
Nicole Davey
Executive Manager, Media and External Communications
NBN Australia
Case study examples will include:
- Digital marketing: hear how GSWA raised its digital presence over social media over the last 3 years by making data-driven decisions, focusing its key messaging, and creating a ‘voice’
- GSWA Open Day: discover how GSWA levelled up its annual conference by tapping into trending themes, widening its target stakeholder groups, and creating engaging experiences
- The Geoscience Data Transformation Program: learn how GSWA has created conversations around this Program by simplifying messaging, making use of multiple communication and engagement methods, and a clean visual identity
Sabrina Bednarski
Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
Department of Energy Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (WA Government)
- Exploring why social media advisors are uniquely placed to get the most out of their channels, but often just shift approved content from A to B
- Unpacking why onerous sign-off processes can erode trust and lower team morale, while producing underwhelming, ineffective outputs
- Understanding why giving teams freedom to fail can lead to better results, and how you can swap control for courage and creativity
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Deploying 200 staff and 180 interpreters across 21 locations to introduce Australia’s largest urban renewal project to retire 44 public housing towers with the promise of better homes and enriched neighbourhoods. Now, 272 days later:
- Explore the invaluable lessons learned in communication and engagement strategies
- Gain insights into fostering empathy and trust in government decision making processes regarding housing initiatives
Cameron Moor
Director, Communication and Engagement
Homes Victoria
Stream C
Harnessing digital communications to effectively engage with citizens
Jessica Hamilton
General Manager, Communication and Marketing and Gender Champion for Diversity & Inclusion
AUSTRADE
- Experimenting with Instagram Reels to create a successful short-form video strategy
- Using analytics to supercharge your results
- Maximising Instagram features – Stories, polls, quizzes and carousels
Heather Lansdowne
Social Media Manager
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lauren Light
Social Media Officer
Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Pushing the envelope: How to spot opportunities for experimenting with your content
- Document, document, document – some frameworks to weigh up risk across channels and topics
- How we do it: City of Sydney case studies in both playing it safe and taking risks
Donna Elkins
Digital Content Manager
City of Sydney
- Unpacking how to sell social media to your leaders – their return on investment
- Developing your leaders – Empower your leaders with LinkedIn
- Exploring getting to yes – Better understanding drives informed decision making
Brogan Goode
Social Media Manager
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Navigating the crucial role of partnerships with First Nations communities and media organisations in co-designing, co-creating and communicating key messages and programs
- Leveraging key learnings from the Mapping the Digital Gap Project
- Creating and conveying locally targeted campaigns – lessons from COVID and the Voice Referendum
- Unpacking the challenges for effective communications
Daniel Featherstone
Research Fellow
RMIT, (Former General Manager of First Nations Media)
Ben Caldwell
Communications Coordinator,
Rangitikei District Council
Seamus Boyer
Formerly Strategic Communications Manager
Wellington City Council
Krystine Nation
Social Media Manager,
Horowhenua District Council
- Unpacking what happens when unforeseen events subvert and overwhelm business as usual
- Analysing the importance of a media strategy – pre-establishing the key lines of communication when you have limited resources, staff and time.
- Understanding how to translate scientific information for public consumption in a hurry
- Navigating a post event reflection – key learnings and evaluating comms products
Melissa Richardson
Media Affairs Manager Corporate Affairs
ANSTO
- Exploring some of the barriers faced by public sector communication professionals as governments move to more participatory forms of engagement
- Understanding the importance of clearly hearing, understanding and acting on what has been heard to better understand citizen thinking and how they feel in more participatory and deliberative forms of engagement
- Examining how emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models can make a positive contribution.
Damian Carmichael
APS Engage Lead
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Creating positive change is the best outcome for public sector communications and content campaigns and, in most cases, is the only true success metric. However, it’s easier said than done, especially considering the challenge of snapping people out of the indifference they might feel when they see government messages come their way. That’s where an audience first approach to content can make a big difference in ensuring the substance of your communications reaches those who can benefit from it, in meaningful and relevant ways.
Join Andrés López-Varela, General Manager of Storyation, one of Australia’s best established content agencies, to discover a simple and compelling framework for how to feature real people and their stories in your content, so you can create campaigns and messages that have a greater chance of effecting real change. During the workshop, you’ll develop your own actionable plan including how to:
- Match your messages to real stories that can bring your content to life
- Atomise your content so your stories land in the right channels for your audience
- Select the right talent and make sure you keep their story front and centre
- Assemble various real people stories into a larger campaign
Andres Lopez Varela
General Manager
Storyation
Andrés is the General Manager of Storyation and a senior marketing leader who has developed strategies targeting audiences in Australia and around the world. He has over 15 years’ experience in marketing, content, strategy and management roles working for brands like Commonwealth Bank, ACARA, Destination NSW, NRMA, Austrade, Pfizer, Symantec, and more.
He also led the content program for Tourism Australia from 2014 to 2017 where he revamped the tourism body’s content. As well as discovering an unexpected love of wombats, he evolved the way Tourism Australia tackled content by combining a data led, consumer first approach with an editorial style of content creation.
Andrés regularly judges industry awards including the Content Marketing Institute’s global CMAs, Mumbrella’s Travel Marketing, Publish and CommsCon Awards, and is a frequent contributor to industry events including State of Social, Mumbrella360, Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit and others. If you want to say hi, Andrés loves to have a chat over on LinkedIn or Threads.
In today’s uncertain and competitive work environment, public sector organisations need communication leaders with a firm grip on all areas of business to drive strategic alignment.
As a contemporary communication leader, you must equip yourself with the mindset, skills, and practical strategies to influence at the executive level, communicate with impact, and activate a thriving culture.
This workshop focuses on the core communication leadership skills you need to succeed as a public sector communication leader and deliver real value to your organisation. You will emerge prepared to think and lead strategically, generate innovative ideas, build trust, and contribute to your organisation on a strategic and senior level. Draw on the latest thinking, practical models, tools, and strategies to elevate your communication leadership presence and ignite your career.
During this empowering session, you’ll learn how to:
- Influence and engage executive level stakeholders
- Communicate with maximum impact
- Foster a culture of trust and innovation
Sia Papageorgiou
FRSA, FCSCE, SCMP, Managing Partner
Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence
Sia Papageorgiou is managing partner at the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence and Co founder of The Alignment People and Gifted Professionals & Communicators Community. She’s a multi-award-winning communication leader on a mission to elevate the value and visibility of communication professionals and help them become trusted, strategic, and in demand advisors. Sia is opinionated about what our profession can achieve and believes communication professionals have the best job in the world. She’s a certified strategic communication management professional, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and past president of the Victorian chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). She’s also a past board director at IABC Asia-Pacific and past chair of the Global Communication Certification Council. In 2021, IABC Asia-Pacific named Sia Communicator of the Year and in 2022 she was awarded the prestigious IABC Rae Hamlin Award in recognition of her exemplary service in advocating the Global Standard of the Communication Profession and evangelising the power and possibility of communication.
Tickets
Book before Friday, 10th May 2024 and Save $200 off the standard rate
Conference Only
Standard rates-
Access to the 2 main conference days
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Onsite discussion forums
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Access to the VIP networking drinks reception on Day 1
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Session recordings and presentation slides
Conference plus one Workshop
Standard rates-
Access to the 2 main conference days
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Access to workshop A or B
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Access to the VIP networking drinks reception on Day 1
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Session recordings and presentation slides
Conference plus Both Workshops
Standard rates-
Access to the 2 main conference days
-
Access to workshops A and B
-
Access to the VIP networking drinks reception on Day 1
-
Session recordings and presentation slides
Virtual Rate
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Access to the 2 main conference days
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Virtual Q & A
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Onsite discussion forums
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Session recordings and presentation slides
