NSW Mid North Coast Network

Join us for a half-day forum designed by and for regional HR professionals. Hosted at Essential Energy’s Port Macquarie depot, this event brings together practitioners from across the Mid North Coast to tackle the issues shaping our profession right now: how to build and retain capability when good people are hard to find regionally, how to plan a workforce strategically rather than reactively, and how we look after our own wellbeing while we’re busy looking after everyone else’s.

With expert-led sessions, a practical psychosocial safety segment, and an interactive regional HR panel, you’ll leave with ideas you can put to work straight away and new connections across the local HR community.

Target Audience  

HR practitioners, people leaders and lone/small-team HR professionals across the Mid North Coast.

Speaker: Kath Harris – Unscripted HR and Co-Convenor of the AHRI Mid North Coast Network.

Kath Harris is the founder of Unscripted HR and an experienced HR leader and consultant who supports businesses with practical, people-focused HR advice. Based in Forster, Kath is passionate about connecting and supporting HR professionals across regional NSW. She is a Fellow of AHRI and Co-Convenor of the AHRI Mid North Coast Network. 

Speaker: Kath Hume – Workforce Transformations

Kath Hume is a workforce strategist, author and podcast host dedicated to helping organisations and their people navigate the future of work.

As founder of Workforce Transformations Australia, Kath has spent more than 20 years helping some of Australia’s largest and most complex organisations ensure the workforce they have is the workforce they need. Her expertise spans strategic workforce planning, capability development and future foresight.

Kath hosts the Reimagined Workforce podcast, reaching listeners in almost 80 countries, and is the author of the Amazon number one bestseller Learn Solve Thrive. She has led strategic workforce planning initiatives for organisations with up to 170,000 employees, including NSW Health and the NSW Department of Education.

Kath brings thought-provoking insights on aligning education with industry needs and preparing organisations and individuals for what’s next.

Other Event Information 

Ticketing:

AHRI Members: Free

Non-members: $50

You will obtain 3.5 CPD points for attending this forum.

Dietary Requirements: Please include any dietary requirements when completing your registration.

Session 1 – Strategic Workforce Planning & Retention

Purpose: To shift the conversation from constantly recruiting to strategically building and keeping capability. As external hiring tightens across the region, this session looks at how to see your workforce as a whole – identifying the capability you need, growing it from within, and holding onto the people who already fit your culture and values.

What you’ll take away:

● A clearer way to look at your workforce strategically rather than role-by-role.

● Practical approaches to building internal capability and reducing reliance on external recruitment.

● Retention strategies that keep your best people engaged – especially valuable where good talent is hard to replace regionally.

Session 2 – Wellbeing for HR Professionals

Purpose: HR spends its days supporting everyone else, often without the same support in return. This session focuses squarely on the HR practitioner – how we look after ourselves and manage the emotional load of the work.

What you’ll take away:

● Practical, permission-giving strategies to look after your own wellbeing as an HR professional.

● Ways to build a sounding board or supervision-style support when you’re a team of one.

● A reminder that the care you extend to others is care you’re allowed to claim for yourself.

Segment – Psychosocial Risk Factors

Purpose: To connect the wellbeing conversation to the psychosocial risks that quietly shape it. This short, practical segment builds awareness of the key psychosocial risk factors and what they mean – not just for the people we support, but for HR practitioners ourselves.

What you’ll take away:

● Awareness of the key psychosocial risk factors relevant to HR teams.

● A practical lens for spotting these risks in your own role and workplace.

● How this awareness ties directly into wellbeing and everyday HR practice.

Panel & Q&A – Regional HR in Practice

Purpose: To open the floor. This is where the value of getting HR practitioners in one room really shows – a chance to hear how other regional organisations are navigating the same challenges, and to ask the questions you don’t often get to ask out loud.

What you’ll take away:

● Real, on-the-ground perspectives from HR leaders across the Mid North Coast.

● Answers to your own questions in a relaxed, interactive setting.

● The shared sense that regional HR is a community and you’re part of it.

Registration Information 

Registration close: Wednesday 28 October

Having trouble registering? Contact Us or phone 1300 811 880.

By confirming your registration, you agree to AHRI’s Event Terms & Conditions.