Professionalising HR at the Department of Home Affairs
To support the professionalisation of its HR workforce, the Department of Home Affairs engaged AHRI to deliver their HR Certification for Teams. The program helped experienced HR practitioners broaden their capability, build stronger professional networks and develop a shared framework for delivering strategic HR outcomes.
The Department of Home Affairs is one of Australia’s largest and most complex government agencies, responsible for functions that have a direct impact on millions of Australians.
To deliver these critical services, the department relies on a highly capable workforce, supported by HR professionals across disciplines including workforce planning, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, organisational development and employee relations.
As part of a broader strategy to professionalise the HR profession within the department, Home Affairs sought a way to broaden capability, recognise existing expertise and create stronger connections across its HR team.
AHRI’s HR Certification program became an important part of that strategy.
The Challenge
Like many large organisations, the Department of Home Affairs has HR practitioners with deep expertise in specific areas of practice. While this specialisation brings significant value, it can also mean individuals have fewer opportunities to develop a broader understanding of the HR profession beyond their area of focus.
At the same time, the department was progressing a significant body of work aimed at professionalising its HR workforce. The focus was not only on building individual capability, but also on strengthening the HR function’s ability to deliver strategic value across the organisation.
For Ben Miller CPHR, Assistant Director, Learning and Development Services, one of the key questions was how to continue developing experienced HR practitioners and leaders in a meaningful way.
“Our HR graduates come through established development pathways, but how do you continue to develop staff who already have significant experience? How do you help them broaden their skills while recognising the expertise they already bring?”
The Solution
When exploring options, HR Certification with AHRI stood out due to its holistic view of HR capability.
Rather than focusing on a single specialist discipline, HR Certification assesses and develops capability across the breadth of the HR profession. For the department, this aligned closely with its goal of helping practitioners expand their understanding beyond their immediate area of expertise.
“What attracted us to HR Certification was that it looks at people as HR professionals overall,” said Miller. “We wanted people to have the opportunity to look beyond the areas they work in every day and gain exposure to areas they may not have had as much experience with before.”
Rather than enrolling employees in AHRI’s public HR Certification program, the department chose to undertake HR Certification for Teams, creating a dedicated cohort of Home Affairs HR professionals who would complete the journey together.
Team members were invited to express their interest in participating, with managers supporting nominations based on experience and development needs. This approach enabled participants to learn alongside their colleagues, support one another throughout the process and build a shared understanding of professional HR practice.
Participants followed a range of pathways to HR Certification. Some completed AHRI’s AHRCF Micro-credentials before undertaking assessment, while others were able to proceed directly to assessment based on their existing skills and experience. This flexible approach enabled the department to both develop and recognise capability across the cohort.
Learning Together
One of the most valuable outcomes of the cohort approach, they discovered, was the opportunity for peer learning and support. As participants progressed through assignments and assessments, they regularly shared ideas, discussed challenges and generally encouraged one another throughout the process.
“You’d run into somebody in the corridor and ask, ‘Have you done your assignment yet?’ We’d talk about how we approached things, share ideas, and help each other work through challenges. Having a support network made a real difference,” Miller recalled.
Moreover, the shared experience helped build stronger relationships across the HR function, created greater willingness to collaborate between practitioners who may not otherwise have worked closely together, and established a common language and framework for discussing HR challenges across the department.
Building a More Strategic HR Function
For many participants, one of the most valuable aspects of HR Certification was the opportunity to look beyond their area of specialisation and develop a broader understanding of the HR profession.
He believes this broader perspective creates a more consistent and strategic approach to HR practice at the department.
The Result
By undertaking HR Certification for Teams, the Department of Home Affairs has taken an important step in its broader professionalisation journey.
The program has helped participants broaden their capability, strengthen collaboration across the HR function and build a shared understanding of professional HR practice.
For organisations looking to strengthen capability at scale, the department’s experience demonstrates that the benefits of HR Certification extend well beyond individual development. By developing people together, organisations can create a more connected, collaborative and strategically focused HR function equipped to deliver greater value across the business.
