Kelly White and Suzanne Lazaroo
31 October 2025: The ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ is introducing a suite of specialised microcredentials to enhance employability, workplace skills and confidence, giving students an even greater edge as they move into the workforce.
The initiative will kick off with three microcredentials offered in Semester One, 2026 – Working for government: Policy making in action (Micro) and Sustainability in the Workplace (Micro) from the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, and AI-Driven Cybersecurity (Micro) from the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Sustainability in the Workplace (Micro) and AI-Driven Cybersecurity (Micro) will also be offered in Semester Two 2026, while Working for government: Policy making in action (Micro) will see a second offering in Winter Term next year.
Three more microcredentials will also be available in the Winter Term of next year – Professional Communication (Micro) and Media Literacy (Micro), delivered by the Faculty of Arts and Design, and AI in the Workplace (Micro) from the Faculty of Business, Government and Law.
Each microcredential will earn one credit and students with available open elective spots in their undergraduate courses can enrol in three, one-credit point microcredentials to receive credit for their elective unit.
Students must complete three microcredentials during 2026 in order to claim credit for an elective unit. All of the microcredentials are offered online and self-paced.
Successful completion of microcredentials will appear in students’ academic transcripts; they will also receive a digital badge for each one.
“We recognise the need to ensure our graduates are ready to meet the needs of industry, government and employers – especially as they adapt quickly to changing environments. The targeted learning offered by these microcredentials is designed to do just that,” said University Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President, Professor Michelle Lincoln.
Working for Government: Policy making in action (Micro) is designed to enhance the employability of University graduates across every discipline area, by arming them with essential public sector skills.
Program Director for the Public Policy Graduate Certificate courses, Associate Professor Dr Kath Mackie, will co-deliver this micro, which addresses the upskilling of University graduates who may move into roles within the Australian Public Service (APS), non-APS agencies, or the ACT Government and NSW State and local governments.
“We’re very excited to offer this new micro – we know that many of our graduates, across discipline areas and our five faculties, will move into roles in the public service after graduation. This microcredential will provide them with essential knowledge on how government works in Australia, improve their employability upon graduation, and give them the skills to hit the ground running, and contribute to change in their chosen fields of study,” Dr Mackie said.
The microcredential will cover fundamental questions such as: Where do policy ideas come from? How does a government decide which policies to introduce, to redesign or to terminate? In implementation, how is funding secured and managed; why do many policies or programs fail, while others succeed?
“Creating quality public policy requires analytical thinking, an ability to understand and extract key insights from data, and a strong ability to communicate with persuasion. These are skills that will support a graduate to apply the technical and critical analytical skills of their bachelor’s degree, if they choose to move into public sector roles,” Dr Mackie said.
Another of the Faculty’s new microcredential offerings, Sustainability in the Workplace, equips students with the skills to assess sustainability practices, advocate for change, and navigate legal and regulatory responsibilities in professional settings.
Led by Professor Jacki Schirmer of the Centre for Environmental Governance, the microcredential is designed to empower students from all disciplines to drive meaningful, institution-wide change.
“Students will hear directly from leaders across business, government, and the not-for-profit sector about how they’re embedding sustainability into their workplaces – including through their supply chains,” Professor Schirmer said.
“They’ll develop the ability to critically evaluate sustainability strategies, policies, and reporting, and learn how to design practical plans that support environmentally responsible action in the workplace.”
The Faculty of Business, Government and Law at the University has strong connections with governments, nationally and in Canberra, with courses delivered by experts with a combination of public service experience and academic knowledge.
Providing critical understanding, knowledge and transferable skills, AI-Driven Cyber Security (Micro) will introduce students to both the fundamentals of the subject and the guiding ethical frameworks that underpin it. This is a rich approach to embed education into industry, and develop the emerging skills needed at the academia-industry intersect.
“This micro is both deeply relevant to where we are right now, and the future we are heading into – and it is applicable across business, government and community sectors,” said Professor Dharmendra Sharma, Capability Lead for AI and Robotics at the Faculty of Science and Technology. He will be co-delivering this microcredential.
“There’s still a mistaken belief among some that AI is a niche subject, relevant only to techpreneurs and people working in IT – the reality is that it is a technology that has pervaded all areas of our lives, and the only way we can drive innovation, ensure safe and ethical usage of AI, create opportunities for and empower humanity, is by growing our own understanding and skills in the area,” Professor Sharma said.
Within this micro, students will explore how AI and AI-based tools are used to analyse, detect, and respond to cyber threats, apply ethical and governance frameworks to evaluate risks, and communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.
The AI-Driven Cybersecurity (Micro) unit was developed in line with the internationally recognised Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA); it is uniquely aligned to industry to equip students with globally benchmarked skills in threat detection and response, governance and risk, security analytics and professional and ethical practice.
Enrolment in these microcredentials opens on 1 December – look out for more info and updates in MyÂÜÀòÊÓƵ.