Policy Officer

APS Level 6
- Canberra, ACT | Brisbane, QLD | Melbourne, VIC
- $91,584 - $100,710

**About the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations**
We enable access to quality skills, training and employment services to support Australians find secure work in fair, productive and safe workplaces - supporting individuals and our nation to prosper.

**The Role**
The VET Student Loans (VSL) Branch is responsible for administering the VSL program including policy and program management, and service delivery. The VSL program provides income-contingent loans to around 50,000 students each year who are studying higher-level Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses in areas of workforce demand. The Branch manages around 200 VSL approved providers to deliver these courses, and administers around $270 million in loan payments annually. The VSL program has been operating since 2017, and is administered according to the VET Student Loans Act 2016.

Teams across the Branch focus on a range of functions, including:

- Approval and management of VSL approved course providers - determining which VET providers gain access to the VSL program, managing ongoing integrity controls, and managing the transition of providers into and out of the program.
- Program payments management - administering payment and recovery arrangements, determining entitlement to payments under the legislation, managing deferral of payments, and debt recovery including invoicing and payment plan assessments.
- Program governance, change management and IT Projects - program governance and project management, business and stakeholder engagement, working collaboratively with IT to maintain and improve IT systems delivering VSL.
- Developing and implementing ongoing policy change - streamlining and improving the program, and integrating VSL in broader VET strategic policy reforms.
- Drafting correspondence, briefings, and responses to Parliamentary Questions, Senate Orders, Questions on Notice and Ministerial correspondence.

Reporting to an Assistant Director, the Policy Officer will play a key role progressing policy, project and engagement work to support the delivery of improvements to the VET Student Loans Program.

**Duties and Responsibilities**
Responsibilities of the APS Level 6 may include:

- Strategic analysis of program operations, the VET landscape and stakeholder interests to support development of proposals for program improvement and redesign
- Preparing papers, briefing and other documentation as necessary to support program improvement and other VSL policy work
- Preparing for, and participating in, internal and external stakeholder engagement activities
- Assisting with critical policy and change processes such as development of a regulation impact statement, amendments to legislation and evaluation activities
- Contributing to and supporting project management requirements.

**Qualifications and Education**
- Experience in policy development, or with program reform (**Desirable**)
- Tertiary qualifications in policy, law, regulation, government or another relevant discipline (**Desirable**)
- Ability to understand and work with legislation (**Essential**).

**How to Apply**
Applicants are required to provide up to a two-page summary (no more than 1000 words) that outlines skills, knowledge, and experience and why you should be considered for this vacancy. You should take into consideration the position overview (including any detailed position specific requirements) when drafting your response. Where possible include specific relevant examples of your work.

The APS work level standards accommodate the diversity of roles across the APS and are structured to clearly differentiate between the work expected (i.e. responsibilities and duties) at each classification level.

In the eRecruit (the department’s online recruitment system) you will also need to:

- upload a Curriculum Vitae
- provide contact details for 2 Referees.

**Eligibility**

**Citizenship** - to be eligible for employment with the Department, you must be an Australian Citizen or, in limited circumstances, in the process of obtaining it.

**Please refer to the Job Information Pack for more information about the role.**

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