In 2021, two Australian federal agencies went to tender searching for a state of the art learning and development solution that would change the way the Australian Government approached L&D. 

The Department of Defence and IP Australia sought the ability to measure and utilise capability internally and across agencies. This would allow employees to potentially move between agencies and take their training history with them. 

A potential solution also needed to:

• Incorporate social learning and learning in the flow of work
• Integrate data seamlessly from external systems
• Use separate branding styles for each agency
• Share reports, learning resources, and communities of practice.

The project was to be a pilot of the best available technology with the aim of recommending the solution to be implemented at a whole-of-government level.

The solution

Androgogic deployed the Androgogic Edition Totara Talent Experience Platform for the Department of Defence and IP Australia.

Totara is a global leader in talent development software. The Totara Talent Experience Platform (TXP) combines learning delivery, performance management, and social and collaborative learning into one cohesive user interface. 

The Platform was multi-tenanted in Androgogic’s solution, allowing the Agencies to use their own branding and to separate critical data and training. 

To respond to the Agencies’ requirements for a social learning solution, Androgogic implemented Totara Engage, a Learning Experience Platform (LXP). Engage allows learners to: 

• Engage in bite-sized learning
• Consume learning in the flow of work
• Recommend learning to users
• Collaborate informally

To integrate data seamlessly into and out of the platform, Androgogic deployed its sophisticated integration toolkit. This provides extensive logging and troubleshooting tools for administrators to assure the integrity of the data.

To measure capability in both Agencies, Androgogic implemented Totara Perform, a robust Performance Management System, which:

• Creates and automates appraisal, check-in, and feedback activities
• Manages goals and competencies at the user- and organisation-level
• Links courses and training modules to performance activities

This allowed administrators to report on ability internally and across both Agencies. 

Having access to this information and the training completed for each user saved time on duplicate training as employees moved between the Agencies.

The results

On completion of the pilot, both the Department of Defence and IP Australia recommended Androgogic’s solution to be implemented for the whole of government. 

Androgogic’s solution was said to have exceeded the requirements of the pilot.  

Both agencies will continue with Androgogic’s solution to support their learning and development goals.

The project won Best Learning and Talent Technology at LearnX in 2023. It also won Best Innovative Use of Totara at the Totara Awards in 2024.

Doug Pereira, General Manager Finance & People Services Group, Chief Financial Officer, and Major Sponsor of the LXP Project, said: 

 Alexander Roche, Androgogic CEO, Founder, and Principle Educational Technologist said:

To maintain Defence’s impartiality and protect its credibility, Defence will not make any statement or provide any support that amounts to an endorsement or may be perceived as an endorsement of an external party, its products, services or personnel. The purchase of a product or service by Defence does not imply that Defence endorses that product, service or the supplier, nor should any other arrangement with a commercial entity suggest that Defence endorses that entity.