Continuing professional development for procurement staff
Continuous professional development (CPD) is important, even after you’ve completed all your certification training. CPD ensures you stay relevant, adaptable, and competent in your respective fields, fostering professional and personal growth and contributing to overall organisational excellence.
It also ensures you are well equipped to deliver on the Queensland Procurement Policy (QPP) priorities, commitments and targets.
How CPD can help you
A commitment to lifelong CPD will increase your capability to:
- Meet the demand for capable, technically skilled procurement professionals who can work in multi-disciplinary teams that deliver fit-for-purpose procurement outcomes.
- Undertake a responsible public procurement approach that delivers on government priorities, commitments and targets.
Actively seeking out and participating in CPD offers you opportunities to:
- Remain informed on best practice approaches and emerging trends.
- Challenge current ways of thinking and working.
- Network and learn from like-minded professionals.
Finding the right opportunities
When considering available opportunities, it is useful to understand best practice learning approaches such as the 70:20:10 Learning Model:
- 70%: Experience (No Cost): Application of new knowledge through on the job practice.
- 20%: Exposure and Environment (No Cost): Those opportunities to practice new skills and receive feedback and coaching.
- 10%: Education and training (Cost): Introduces new knowledge or new ways of viewing your current knowledge and how it might be applied in the workplace.
Low cost or free options
Find out about upcoming CPD opportunities:
- Subscribe to the Buy Queensland buyer newsletter: To receive procurement training and development updates, including invitations to the Procurement and Contract Management Community of Practice events.
- Contact your HR team: To find out which professional development training and professional memberships are available in your agency.
- Contact a professional association: To find out when they provide low cost or no cost CPD events for members and non-members.
For more information on CPD opportunities, please refer to the Continuing Professional Development Guide .
Consider joining a professional association
A professional association is an organisation that exists to advance a profession and support the people working in the discipline.
A professional association facilitates improving the communication, connection and innovation within a discipline. Professional organisations usually require membership fees in return for offering benefits to their members. By joining a professional organisation, you can:
- Reflect and improve on current practice
- Access CPD
- Attend networking events
- Access best practice articles and resources.
Some examples of Specialist professional associations include:
- Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA)
- Australasian Fleet Management Association (AFMA)
- Procurement and Supply Australasia – PASA CONNECT
- Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM)
- Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply
Procurement graduates
Find out what training and CPD opportunities are available for procurement graduates.
Find out more
Email skills2procure@epw.qld.gov.au to find out more about CPD.