Engaging professional services community: collaboratively responding to the leadership development needs of the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services

Leadership, to support university-community engagement, has been the focus of recent research. There is a gap in the literature relating to community engagement in the development and delivery of leadership programs as part of the University curricula.

This paper addresses that gap, in relation to health services leadership, in its consideration of the University of Tasmania Health and Human Services Management and Leadership postgraduate course. This course was established, in partnership with the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services, as part of its broader management and leadership development strategy.

The original research presented in this paper describes and critically assesses the strategies used for embedding, supporting and sustaining university-community engagement as demonstrated in the collaborative development and delivery of the course.

Key success factors include strategic policy commitments to engagement; resources invested by both organisations to develop mutually beneficial processes; and staff commitment. Despite evidence of success, changes in key personnel; national policies around student financing; and organisational restructures and administrative reviews represent future challenges. Developing the capacity and commitment to evaluation research may provide data and documentation to inform evidence-based policy and make a significant contribution to the literature on university-community engagement and leadership development programs.