klyp, Author at UNE Partnerships

UNE Partnerships is proud to be recognised as a finalist for Regional SME of the Year by the Defence Connect Australian Defence Industry Awards.

“This award recognises the defence SME that has most effectively capitalised on market opportunities and driven demonstrable business growth while supporting the strengthening of Australia’s defence and national security capabilities through their participation in the defence industry.”, Defence Connect.

UNE Partnerships has established itself as a trusted provider to defence, helping to modernise learning design and training delivery across dozens of projects over the past decade.

Visit our website to learn about some of our more recent projects.

UNE Partnerships would like to welcome the following scholarship winners to our vibrant, diverse and growing community of professionals seeking to further their success in their chosen career.

Avant/AAPM Scholarship winners

Codie Field
Majella Beagley
Tracey Coyne
William Hermes
Molly Macdonald

About the Avant/AAPM Scholarship winners

The Avant/AAPM Scholarships aim to foster and promote continuing training and professional development for AAPM members. Every year, AAPM and Avant come together to award five partially funded scholarships delivered by the University of New England Partnerships. Each scholarship recipient receives an enrolment [up to the value of $4,000] for one of the following UNE Partnerships courses:

These courses have been developed in conjunction with industry professionals, and are aimed at Practice Principals, Managers and Administrators. All scholarships offer students an accelerated career path within the Practice Management environment, fast tracking career progress.

AAPM Colleen Sullivan Scholarship winner

Kerry Emery

About the AAPM Colleen Sullivan Scholarship

UNE Partnerships is proud to deliver their qualification 10820NAT Diploma of Leadership in Healthcare Practice, for the AAPM Colleen Sullivan Scholarship. This scholarship is in recognition of Colleen’s long-time contribution to education and assistance to AAPM members.

About the Diploma of Leadership in Healthcare Practice

Our Diploma has been designed by practice managers for practice managers, in conjunction with AAPM. This contemporary qualification builds on 30 years of collaboration between UNE Partnerships and AAPM, with a strong focus on continuous improvement, customer service, patient-centred care, and emerging trends in the sector.

Our qualification aims to help practice managers lead successful and sustainable medical practices in an increasingly dynamic healthcare environment. These new scholarship winners will learn the skills and knowledge to apply effective leadership strategies for your practice to succeed within the challenging medical environment that faces healthcare leaders today.

When you think life is finding some form of normality from drought, fire and flood…..the pandemic hits.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has certainly shown us the unexpected. Pre COVID-19, our rural community in South West Queensland, like most of the country, has faced challenges. However, those challenges have proven that we are a resilient bunch. At the end of 2019, South West Qld was declared drought stricken for over the past 10years. While we watched on in horror, as parts of the southern country was burning, in February 2020 our community braced for flood. When you think life is finding some form of normality from drought, fire and flood …..the pandemic hits.

My Story

In May 2009, I started my journey as a medical receptionist. Having diligently worked my way up to Office Manager in 2012. I was offered the Practice Managers position in June 2016 and was appointed in July 2016. With this, I was motivated to become a student again and therefor commenced my BSB40215 Certificate IV in Business (Practice Management) to gain knowledge and develop skills to manage the operations of a general practice. Working full time and a being a mother to two children, I felt as though the freedom to study was perhaps behind me. Starting this journey with UNEP was the best decision I had made with the need to accomplish something for myself – proving to myself and to my family that I could achieve my goal. I completed the certificate in June 2017.

I recognise that learning is an ongoing process not only for my professional growth but also for my personal growth and achievements. Education to expand knowledge is rewarding. In 2019, I once again went into study mode with UNEP. I commenced a Diploma of Professional Practice Leadership with the hope to enhance my ability to perform key roles, delegate responsibilities to other team members and to also work effectively within an evolving primary health care environment.

As COVID-19 struck, my role changed overnight from horizon scanning and strategic planning to focusing on safeguarding the wellbeing of staff and patients. My action list changed on an hourly basis as more information and guidance were received daily. Like so many other parents around the country I was also figuring out how to juggle life. I was working full-time at the practice and home schooling my children whilst continuing to study. I won’t lie, the pressure was huge with the amount of extra responsibilities. Having a schedule was very important and helped. As a Leader, a mother, a student I knew I had to keep on keeping on, knowing that with the support from a fabulous working team, a united family, and the knowledge and information resources already gained from my studies that I would get through.

In March 2020, an early action for the leadership team was to set up a red zone to see patients suffering from Covid-19 symptoms in a separate building and a green zone for routine appointments within our main site. In the practice, we focus on core general practice, complex patients and others who require urgent care. Social distancing measures were put in place quickly within the practice. Waiting room chairs were moved to enable two-metre distancing and where possible, staff were allocated laptops and sent to work from home, whilst maintaining frequent communication with fellow staff members. Many measures were put in place to ensure our patients knew we were open and would continue to provide care to those who needed it.

Overnight, we transformed face to face consultation methods to almost full triage and telephone consulting. Videoconferencing was also offered to our patients but given our demographic we have patients either with no internet service or not very tech savvy with microphones and cameras to make effective use of this platform.

GPs and patients are adapting well to new methods of consultation. Is this something to be considered to adopt as a preferred option for a post Covid-19 world? The new normal for general practice is yet to be determined.

In May 2020, St George Medical Centre was the first of two GP-led respiratory clinics in South West to open its doors to support patients, locally and to the wider communities, dealing with symptoms associated with COVID-19, influenza and pneumonia. This Commonwealth Government initiative was a commitment to ensure our rural and remote communities have all the tools needed to keep COVID-19 at bay and the capacity to deal with cases if they emerge. The establishment of this dedicated respiratory clinic ensures GPs have a safe and efficient avenue to also attend to non-respiratory related needs of other patients. This reduces the risk of cross-infection with COVID-19 and Influenza.

To date South West Queensland have been very fortunate in remaining Covid-19 free. Patients, staff and the community have risen to this (pandemic) challenge. Our priorities, relationships with each other, relationships across the system and importantly, relationships with those we serve will have been reset during this period. Working together to find new solutions to new problems will be essential to determine a sustainable new normal.

Working in a busy practice means there can be a wide variety of tasks from day-to-day, which is one of the reasons I enjoy the job. In addition to the variety, I also enjoy the fast-paced environment and the inevitable multi-tasking that comes with that. The very best part of my job is my work colleagues. There is something about the type of people with whom you work and get to call family in a small rural practice: they are extremely nurturing and caring and, above all, take their jobs very seriously when dealing with people’s health needs and crisis.

I have learnt a lot throughout my journey of Practice Management, through my personal experiences, working in a team environment and the knowledge I have gained during my studies. From this I have come to realise that being a good leader isn’t simple, however practicing professionalism is, and it makes being a leader a whole lot easier. Professionalism and leadership are two distinct qualities that, I believe, all managers should possess with both requiring one key element – Respect.

And no matter what, through all the unexpected that life throws our way – drought, fire, flood, pandemic one thing is for sure – “We are all in this together”

I’d like to finish by saying if you’re thinking of studying again, don’t be limited. No matter where you begin, the sky’s the limit as far as where it could take you. As life is busy, online study through UNEP, gave me the opportunity to have a more flexible timetable. Good luck!

This article was written by UNE Partnerships, Aluma and current student – Peta Hart.

More information on our Practice Management courses can be found here.

UNE Partnerships has been working closely with the Army Logistic Training Centre and the Army School of Logistic Operations to help to reimagine their continuum of senior soldier courses.

Training Transformation intends to provide the Australian Army with a modern framework for training delivery, built across three pillars:

Agility – A training system that is agile will enable Army’s people and teams to quickly transition between missions and environments. As experience is gained and ideas are contested, training design must be able to easily and rapidly evolve. Training delivery mechanisms must be adaptable to the situation and the required learning outcomes.
Simplicity – A training system that is simple in its processes, structures and policies will promote freedom of action and the ability to rapidly change in readiness for the challenges of Accelerated Warfare.
Capacity – A training system that builds capacity will enable Army to generate more teams for more tasks, in more domains and environments, more often. It should do this more effectively, efficiently and safely.

Lieutenant Colonel Brendan Robinson believes this is a bold and decisive initiative for the Army School of Logistic Operations;

“By September 2020, we will have completely modernised the Subject 2 for Corporal, Sergeant and Warrant Officer suite of logistic courses. This project is ambitious in combining multiple corps-specific learning management plans into two CSS Sergeant and Warrant Officer learning frameworks. Importantly, it seeks to emphasise the integration of corps-specific logistic outputs to generate operational logistic effects. For example, this could see the creation of catering and personnel tracking learning modules and the absorption of road movement planning delivered on the RACT Subject 4 course into the new Subject 2 Sergeant course. This project also anticipates the removal of overly specific training delivered as generalist career training on other courses. Finally, it looks to align Army logistics training with Workforce 2028 plans to create the workforce flexibility required for a future ready force. The guiding design principles for this project are to simplify learning design, make learning more accessible and to enable continuous learning with reduced residential demands.

These innovations are critical to creating the flexibility and scalability necessary to train our current and future workforce. Furthermore, the tools now in use at ASLO are enabling better and faster decision-making. This directly serves our school mission: to train and develop Army’s logistics officers and senior soldiers to command or support joint land force operations.”

This project builds on more than a decade of partnership with UNE Partnerships and the Australian Government Department of Defence and other Commonwealth Government agencies to support contemporary learning design and development.

This article is derived from a recent blog post from LTCOL Brendan Robinson:

https://cove.army.gov.au/article/army-school-logistics-operations-modernisation

If you would like to learn more about how UNE Partnerships can support your business to more effectively achieve your organisational objectives, then please contact our Partnerships team:

Kathryn Hogan – Partnerships Manager
kathryn.hogan@unep.edu.au

Biography

Brendan Robinson

Brendan Robinson is a graduate of the UK Command and Staff College and the Royal Military College Duntroon. Trained as a mechanical engineer at the Australian Defence Force Academy, he has served with armoured, infantry and logistics units and has deployed twice. He is the current Commanding Officer & Chief Instructor of the Army School of Logistic Operations. He maintains an interest in good writing, world affairs and Army modernisation.

Brendan has also written:

Book Review: Team of Teams – New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World on Grounded Curiosity.
Lowy Institute Address: America’s Enduring Interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific with Admiral Harry Harris, Commander US Pacific Command – 14 Dec 2016. On the Land Power Forum.
To what extent should the UK’s Armed Forces once again be prepared to operate routinely east of Suez? in the Indo Pacific Strat Digest Summer 2016 edition.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Australian Army, the Department of Defence or the Australian Government.

This article has been republished with permission from the UNE Pulse Newsletter.

Benjamin (Ben) Gilmore stepped up to the role of CEO of UNE Partnerships this month (3 August 2020).

He is no stranger to UNE Partnerships having worked as its Director of Learning and Innovation for the past three years, with responsibility across sales, marketing, learning design and learning technology. A keen advocate for a great student experience, Ben believes UNE Partnership is ideally placed to capitalise on the disrupted world we are now living in.

Tell me a bit about yourself – how did you end up in Armidale and at UNEP?

I’m a vocational training veteran having worked in the sector for the past 15 years. I started working at UNE Partnerships four years ago as a consultant before transitioning into a permanent role.

I fell in love with Armidale and the people on my very first visit. Having previously worked in very large organisations it was a refreshing change to join an organisation that felt like family and where everyone is collegial and collaborative.

My wife and I moved to Armidale from Brisbane with our six-week old son soon after I accepted the position at UNE Partnerships. My first visit to Armidale was in the middle of summer and we decided to move here in the depths of winter. It took some getting used to!

Tell me about your training. What are some of your professional highlights? And what are your areas of interest?

I spent most of the last 15 years in learning design and technology roles. It is a sector that has evolved rapidly in the past decade and I am confident that UNE Partnerships has the organisational agility to remain ahead of the curve.

A standout professional highlight was the decade I spent as part of a team responsible for growing a start-up into a highly successful private training organisation which educated 50,000+ students in the space of 10-years. It was absolutely incredible to be part of such a meteoric growth experience.

You previously worked as Director of Learning and Innovation at UNEP. How will this experience influence your priorities for UNEP?

The broad scope of my previous role provided me with a solid foundation from which to step up and manage the whole business. I bring extensive expertise across learning design as well as sales and marketing and we have a fantastic team who are experienced, training and education professionals. There is always room for improvement but, for a small business, we have demonstrated our ability ‘punch’ above our weight.

In the time I’ve worked at UNE Partnerships we’ve seen 15% year-on-year growth in our sales.. We have also expanded our suite of corporate relationships and have developed a strong collaboration with our partners which include organisations such as the Australian Defence Force.

What are some of the biggest challenges for registered training organisations currently?

Our biggest challenge at the moment is that some two-thirds of our business has traditionally been in corporate training, however enrolments from this sector are likely to soften in the coming year as businesses find their way around sustained economic uncertainty.

In contrast, it is encouraging that we have seen a sharp uptake in individual student enrolments. We’re optimistic that this trend will continue as people seek to upskill or move to protect their careers.

How do you relax and recharge when you’re not at your desk?

My wife and I love the water. We used to spend our weekends camping and fishing, although our boat hasn’t seen much water since we moved to Armidale – it’s just been sitting in the shed! I’ve been known to binge watch the occasional Netflix series on the weekend. Mostly I love to spend time with my wife and son. Unfortunately, we’re not travelling to Brisbane to see the rest of the family as often as we would like.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I’m very excited about this opportunity to grow UNE Partnerships. We’re a small regional RTO but we have the backing of this incredible UNE brand that is well-known and respected in not only the education space but by private enterprise and government agencies. I’m keen to see how far we can take UNE Partnerships with such support.

Who and what is UNE Partnerships?

UNE Partnerships was founded by the University of New England in 1983 to undertake a study on technology transfer with particular focus on the potential for biotechnology.

The late Arthur Rickards OAM wrote the proposal to establish UNE Partnerships and chaired the UNE Partnerships Board for its first three years. UNE Partnerships commenced operations as UNE Technology Transfer (UNETT Pty Ltd) in 1986 with a regional development grant to commercialise UNE research products .

In 1996, the then UNE Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bruce Thom, decided to merge the University’s Office of Continuing Education with University Partnerships and the name was changed to UNE Partnerships Pty Ltd to better identify it with its parent organisation.

The change coincided with broader changes in government’s agenda on vocational and professional training. The vocational sector was opening up, with private colleges allowed to compete with TAFE. These colleges became registered private providers and later Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) with qualifications recognised nationally and internationally under the Australian Qualifications Framework.

A strong case was put to the UNE Partnerships’ Board of Directors that the company should become a registered provider and seek to have its own nationally recognised qualifications.

In 1999 UNE Partnerships became a registered Training Organisation, accredited with VETAB NSW. The company has successfully under gone re-registration every five years since this time and is currently registered through till September 2024.

UNE Partnerships has now become UNE’s commercial education company, providing nationally recognised distance Vocational Education to individuals and business partners.

UNE Partnerships enjoys a close working relationship with peak bodies including:

Australian Association of Practice Management (AAPM), and
Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA)

Some of UNE Partnerships current clients include:

Department of Defence
Department of Health
John Holland Group
NSW Public Service Commission
NSW Department of Education
Sandvik Group
Tamworth Business Chamber
Tamworth Regional Council