Our People

PEOPLE AND CULTURE report

Our people are LGT’s greatest asset and their dedication continues to be recognised through the anniversary program whereby our people reaching 5, 10, 15 and 20 year anniversaries are recognised with a personal letter and gift voucher. This year also saw the recognition of International Women’s Day with the distribution of personal post cards of thanks and morning teas provided at our services and programs. As in previous years, workforce shortages proved to be challenging but were mitigated by the commitment and flexibility of our people and educator recruitment drives across the state. The support provided to our trainees on their learning journey through a dedicated LGT Trainee Coordinator and LGT’s RTO Trainer and Assessors will help with future workforce shortages.  

For the first time, LGT has offered a professional exchange program with Gowrie Queensland. LGT hosted the first exchange in Hobart in 2022 and in May 2023, a group of LGT representatives travelled to Queensland. This professional exchange provided the opportunity for connection and professional development. LGT also offered its people a Leadership Program which provided inspiring in-person and online sessions, culminating in a 2-day intensive retreat for participants to reflect and present their leadership projects. Participants were guided and supported through this program by experienced mentors sourced from within LGT.

LGT was again well represented at the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) 2022 National Conference with many of our people travelling to Canberra to attend. The theme of the conference was ‘Passion to Power – Our Future Profession’. Attendance at this conference ensures our people stay in touch with the latest research, pedagogy, practices, and innovations in our sector. It is also an opportunity to network, learn, and take back to their services many innovative and new ways of ‘thinking and doing’. Other professional learning opportunities for our people have included: Mental Health First Aid; ‘Connection Days’ for Education and Care Service Managers and Assistant Managers; Risky and Loose Parts Play; and training for educators to support the regulatory changes to the National Quality Frameworks. 

To support Service Managers and educators in this process and the day-to-day running of the services, the Education and Care Leadership Team was expanded to include the following: Regional Manager (LDC South); Regional Manager (LDC North); Regional Manager OSHC (appointed July 2023); Compliance Manager; and Trainee Coordinator (appointed July 2023).

LGT also paid the out-of-pocket expenses to educators seeking to upgrade their qualifications through Gowrie Training & Consultancy. This included 49 trainees upgrading to a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and 111 educators upgrading to a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. LGT again provided our people with the opportunity to apply for the Helen Stephen Memorial Scholarship which is awarded annually to an educator who has committed to undertake study towards gaining an early childhood degree qualification. We also continue to support a scholarship at UTAS for a recipient studying a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. The Memorandum of Understanding with University of Tasmania (UTAS) School of Education provides support to our people in terms of scholarships, internships and opportunities for shared teaching and learning.

Careful planning and resource allocation was undertaken to bolster the People and Culture team from 1 July 2023. This included a General Manager People and Culture and a People and Culture Recruitment Officer which will assist in further supporting our people through strategic initiatives.