Strategic Priority 2 Reimagine what IPAA membership provides to the public sector

Membership is an integral element of any professional association . We have continued to pursue our long-term objective of ensuring IPAA NSW membership not only represents value, but is an essential component of professional and personal development for those people working in, or with, the NSW public sector .

In an effort to make membership more accessible, we implemented a new membership model, with the support of public sector cluster partners, allowing everyone within the NSW public sector access to an affiliate membership free of charge . In February 2020, we began the process of activating those affiliate memberships and as of 30 June we had a total of 5,784 affiliate members .

In addition to direct marketing emails reminding people to take advantage of this opportunity and the substantial affiliate discounts we offer on events and professional development activities, we have also moved strategically to promote affiliate membership through our cluster channel partners as well as our own channels .

Affiliate membership is now a requirement for access to Ignite, our thought leadership eDM and our new Delivering Public Services in a Pandemic series, also delivered electronically . These services continue to provide thought leadership, insights and articles which highlight public sector best practice from around the world . In the 12 months to June 2020, Ignite and Delivering Public Services in a Pandemic published nearly 250 articles which were distributed to more than 17,000 members and friends each week . As a further incentive, we also now offer affiliate members free access to our Public Sector Fundamentals Program . Membership numbers increased during COVID-19 as we placed emphasis on staying connected at a time when remote working caused many people to feel isolated .

Professional membership also remains a focus as we continue to look for ways to develop our services to meet the needs of these individuals . Each year we look forward to identifying and publicly acknowledging the high-performing professional members of IPAA NSW when we nominate people to become IPAA National Fellows . IPAA NSW Vice President John Hubby and IPAA NSW Councillor Janet Schorer both received IPAA National Fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to public service

and to IPAA . Membership needs transformed quickly, and at scale, due to COVID-19 and we were able to respond equally as rapidly, to a digital environment .