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Our 2026 sessions are now available to watch online
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Hotel Realm, Canberra
Experience The Day Out by SPA Australia
Watch the 2026 Sessions
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Meet the speakers
If you watch the session recordings, you will hear from SPA Australia senior advisors, as well as some of Australia’s most experienced public servants, who tackled some of the prominent challenges facing public sector employees – with tangible advice that you can put into practice immediately. Speakers included:
Heather Cook
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
Alison Frame
Secretary, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Nicole Pearson
Chief of Transparency, Integrity and Legal, Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
Commodore Ash Papp CSC RAN
Program Sponsor General Purpose Frigates
Bronwyn Fagan
Assistant Secretary – Commercial and Information Law Branch, Department of Home Affairs
Kate Lalor
Chief Counsel Legal Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
David Cooke
Chief Counsel Corporate, Legal Services – Corporate Division, Services Australia
Professor Robin Creyke AO
Expert Advisor – Legal, SPA Australia
Emeritus Professor, Australian National University
The line-up
08:30AM – 09:00AM
Event Registration
09:10AM – 10:00AM
Main Stage
Building a Pro-Integrity Culture in the Public Sector: Everyday Habits that Strengthen Trust, Decision-Making and Professional Standards
Integrity in the Australian Public Service (APS) is a broad and essential concept. The APS Commission defines integrity as “doing the right thing at the right time” to achieve the best outcomes for the Australian community and the government of the day.
This panel will explore the practical behaviours, cultural drivers and leadership approaches that help build and sustain a genuinely pro-integrity culture across the public sector. Discussion will focus on the habits that matter most, how they support better decision-making, and how senior leaders can model integrity in their daily work.
Facilitator:
Vanessa Domaschenz
Panel Members:
Heather Cook
Alison Frame
Nicole Pearson
10:00AM – 10:30AM
Morning Tea
10:30AM – 11:30AM
Sky Stage
Admin Law: Essential Updates from 2025
CPD 1.0 (Substantive Law)
This session covers essential administrative law decisions and developing trends from 2025. It will highlight the Courts’ approach to key principles, issues the Administrative Review Council is considering, and the growing influence of technology in administrative decision-making. We will also provide practical guidance for in-house government lawyers and delegates.
Violet Stage
Negotiation Approaches for the Public Sector: Tactics and Techniques to Deliver Value for Money
CPD 1.0 (Professional Skills)
How do we arrive at the right contract? How do we gain agreement across the negotiating table? Some simple methods to manage risk, uncertainty, scope, compliance, probity, and price, to deliver outcomes for the Public Sector.
11:30AM – 12:30PM
Sky Stage
Turns Out You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks: Privacy and Digital Reform
CPD 1.0 (Substantive Law)
The rules of digital governance have changed overnight. From the fallout of landmark civil penalties to the mandated rollout of the APS AI Plan 2025, the landscape is now defined by unprecedented enforcement.
This session cuts through the noise. Discover how the case law is rewriting data security standards and how your agency must prepare for the next wave of reform.
Violet Stage
“You’ll Never Guess What I Heard Last Week…” The Trusted Insider and How Government Agencies Can Improve Integrity
There’s a saying that if you want to know about the latest Cabinet decision, just go and hang around the Kingston Hotel. And yet, there’s never been more focus on the importance of integrity, fraud and corruption. Hear about the ongoing efforts across Government to strengthen integrity, including the integrity maturity risk assessment, and receive practical advice on how to build a pro-integrity culture.
12:30PM – 1:30PM
Lunch
1:30PM – 2:30PM
Sky Stage
Don’t be a Headline! How to Ensure Your Procurement Avoids Adverse Findings and Achieves Value for Money
CPD 1.0 (Substantive Law)
How can you ensure your procurement complies with Commonwealth policy and legislation, and avoid adverse findings by the ANAO? The session will follow a fictional procurement, from planning to contract expiry, and show all the ways in which the procurement can go wrong, by using real adverse findings by the ANAO, and what should have been done instead.
Violet Stage
Solving the Right Problem: A Systems Thinking Approach to Smart Decisions
Smart decisions begin with clearly identifying and defining the right question, the relevant stakeholders, and the supporting data. By applying operations analysis and systems thinking, organisations can clarify and reframe problems, select the most appropriate analytical methods, and identify leverage points – avoiding costly fixes that fail to address root causes.
This session will unpack the typical analysis cycle, showing how structured decision support enables smart decisions with clarity and confidence.
2:30PM – 3:30PM
Sky Stage
Smiling 😊, Crying 😢, Winking 😉: Emojis, LPP and Statutory Interpretation – 3 Bite-Sized Sessions
CPD 1.0 (Substantive Law)
Do emojis have legal effect ⚖? Should they be protected by LPP in communications between a lawyer and client 💻? Should they be used in statutory interpretation 📃? This session combines 3 short and sweet presentations to update you on recent developments on LPP, statutory interpretation and the latest emoji jurisprudence 👍.
Violet Stage
Keeping Programs on Track: The Capabilities That Matter Most
Most programs don’t fail because of a lack of intent or funding. They fail because delivery capability does not keep pace with complexity, scale and risk.
This session focuses on what sets programs up for success and what to do when programs start to drift.
Facilitator:
Andrew Roden
Panel Members:
Commodore Ash Papp CSC RAN
David Brown CSM
Phil Cholewick
Anthony Honeyman
3:30PM – 4:00PM
Afternoon Tea
4:00PM – 5:00PM
Main Stage
Beyond The Rulebook: Ethics, Compliance, and Responsibility in Future-proofing Government
CPD 1.0 (Ethics)
Legal ethics, compliance, and professional responsibility are often assumed to be inseparable. This panel discussion challenges that assumption, asking whether integrity in government practice should be seen as a shared leadership responsibility across the public service.
By re-examining the boundaries between law, ethics, and organisational accountability, our discussion will explore how government lawyers and advisors can contribute to futureproofing the public service – strengthening integrity, building capability, and ensuring that responsibility for ethical governance is embedded at every level and in all areas of a department.
Facilitator:
Hannah von Forell
Panel Members:
Bronwyn Fagan
Kate Lalor
David Cooke
5:10PM – 6:00PM
Drinks and Canapes