By Tara Beban and Rachael McMahon - National Indigenous Australians Agency
The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) in partnership with the Australian Public Service Commission are pleased to offer all APS employees access to Footprints - the NIAA’s cross-cultural learning and development framework.
Developed in 2019, Footprints supports the continuous development and enhancement of cross-cultural capability, including of First Nations people, cultures, lands and histories.
“By sharing this first of its kind program beyond the NIAA, we will enhance ongoing respectful cultural learning in more workplaces and in turn demonstrate the positive outcomes that can be achieved through growing cultural understanding”
- Jody Broun, Chief Executive Officer, NIAA
The framework harnesses individual curiosity to explore, appreciate and learn about cultures through activities that:
- motivate,
- align with specific workplace needs and learning journey,
- increase and enhance knowledge and understanding of the cultures that make Australia who we are,
- support respectful learning about other cultural backgrounds, and
- encompass the principles of creating and maintaining a culturally safe work environment.
“What is unique about the Footprints program is that it allows the learner to take the lead through a self-directed ‘choose your own adventure’ style format. Learners have the opportunity to control their own cultural learning journey and in doing so are engaged, enriched and transformed by the process”
- Rachael Jackson, Chief Operating Officer, NIAA
Getting involved in Footprints at an individual level is as simple as Plan, Do, Reflect!
You identify and undertake activities aligned with your capability needs, track completion, and complete a learning reflection to collect ‘footprints’. If you share your learning experience, it boosts your ‘footprints’ tally even more. This approach not only leverages the opportunities for learning within the flow of work but embeds the learning experience through reflection and real world application.
“The activity possibilities are limitless,” says Rachael, “from reading a book, watching a movie or participating in on Country experiences."
To help learners on their Footprints journey, resources and user guides have been developed and added to APSLearn. An activity library of cultural learning has also been uploaded to APSLearn. To complete each learning activity, you enrol, experience and then submit a learning reflection - which will allocate ‘footprints’ to your tally.
You can also explore cultural learning opportunities and experiences outside of the Footprints library. Visit the ‘Footprints External Learning Form’ guidance for information on how to submit details and your reflection on learning you have discovered external to the Footprints library. You can review your collated external learning and reflection history by following the ‘Footprints – How do I review my reflections’ guide.
A Footprints forum is also available to share your thoughts and reflections with APS colleagues, or recommend learning you have discovered.
As an individual you can start your Footprints journey now via APSLearn through the APS Academy.
If you are a workplace keen to find out more about Footprints and how it can benefit your workplace, NIAA has developed a Footprints Implementation Toolkit. Please contact the Workforce Capability team for more information. You can also view this webinar through the APS HR Professional Network, available until June 2025.
