Scalable learning management for Queensland Government agencies

The objective was to address the increasing challenges of disparate learning systems, costly face-to-face training, and the inefficiencies in transferring training records when employees moved between departments.

The Queensland public service is responsible for raising the capabilities of its entire workforce, a task that has become increasingly complex due to the variety of departments and agencies with different needs. Historically, many departments developed their own Learning Management Systems (LMS), each tailored to their specific requirements and while this allowed for specialised training, it led to several key challenges:

• Smaller departments found it difficult to justify the expense of an enterprise-grade LMS platform, with often require significant upfront investment for design and development.
• When public servants moved between departments, training records had to be manually transferred—a process that could take more than six weeks. This led to downtime as employees were required to undergo retraining on each department’s system.
• Each department’s LMS was independent, leading to inconsistent user experiences, difficulty in accessing the right training resources, and a lack of continuity in employee development.
• The fragmented nature of these systems made it nearly impossible to report across departments to identify broader skills gaps, learning needs, or opportunities for more coordinated training initiatives.

Veracity was engaged to address these challenges by designing a cost-effective, scalable Learning Management System that could be shared across government departments of all sizes. Our approach involved building a shared-service model where a single LMS platform could be managed centrally but customised for each department.

Key objectives for the solution included:

• Provide a commercial-grade LMS with robust functionality that could be accessed by all departments, large or small, without the need for significant upfront costs.
• Each department could launch its own branded version of the LMS, with the flexibility to load its own content and set its own specific learning pathways, all while leveraging the shared infrastructure.
• Create a seamless, automated process for transferring training records whenever employees moved between enabled departments, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring that employees’ learning histories were up-to-date and available in real time.

The result was a highly efficient, cost-effective solution: a scalable, single-tenant LMS shared across Queensland Government departments. The system is managed by a central “provider” department, which oversees licensing and governance, while allowing individual departments to fully customise their learning portals. Key benefits include:

• Smaller departments that couldn’t justify an enterprise-level LMS now have access to a powerful platform that’s both scalable and cost-effective, removing the need for costly bespoke solutions.
• Each department can maintain its unique identity with customised branding and content, while still benefiting from a shared learning management system with enterprise-grade capabilities.
• The iLearn platform enables automatic transfer of training records when public servants move between departments. This eliminates the manual transfer process, ensuring records are always current and employees don’t lose any progress in their professional development.
• Public servants across the state now have access to a centralised, cloud-based platform that provides flexible, self-paced learning on-demand, regardless of their department or location.
• The unified platform allows for consistent reporting across departments, making it easier to identify training gaps, track learning progress, and strategise future workforce development.