On Tuesday 18 November 2025, 168 HR professionals from 35 APS agencies gathered at the ATO Melbourne office for the seventh APS HR Professional Steam networking event of the year. This event provided a valuable opportunity for HR practitioners to connect, share insights, and hear from senior leaders on emerging challenges and opportunities in the HR Profession.
With over 6,400 members now part of the HR Professional Steam, the network continues to grow. Attendees included several former HR Graduates and School Leavers, reflecting the success of APS early-career development programs. Over the past 2 years, more than 360 participants have engaged in practitioner-led initiatives.
Alison Stott (Chief People Officer, Australian Taxation Office) stepped into the role of host and led a panel discussion featuring Tiffany Blight (Home Affairs) and Dr Maresa Seabrook (AHRI). Topics included Artificial Intelligence in HR, workforce mobility, and psychological safety.
The panel discussed:
- Interagency connection, demonstrating the importance of networks and engaging with HR peers, to achieve better outcomes for the APS.
- Strategies for fostering psychological safety – including setting and maintaining boundaries and clear open communication.
- Critical considerations about the use of AI in recruitment, illustrating both employee and candidate experience.
- How AI in recruitment builds on earlier practices, noting that concerns about application authenticity existed long before AI.
- The relationship between organisational culture and workforce mobility – recognising there are diverse cultures within agencies.
- The importance of supporting mobility across teams and across agencies.
- Examples of how to create safe spaces for staff to speak up, ensuring people see meaningful change following complaints or escalations.
- Examples of challenging norms and raisings concerns – ‘integrity is what you do when no one is looking’.
Attendees shared positive feedback about the event, noting its value for both learning and networking. Feedback provided after the event highlighted the value of being able to better understand how AI is positioned within the current professional landscape and to explore its connection to change management and strategies for addressing change fatigue. The session was also described as having a smooth flow, with open questions and an approachable panel that encouraged participation and discussion.
HRPS Networking events provide meaningful opportunities to connect with peers and gain insights from senior thought leaders, and are held across multiple states each year.
The Adelaide event – originally scheduled for November 2025 – will be rescheduled for 2026.
(left to right) Alison Stott (ATO), Tiffany Blight (Home Affairs) and Dr Maresa Seabrook (AHRI)