Individual Mentoring Program - IPAA Western Australia

Applications for the 2024 Mentoring Program have now closed.

Program Overview

Mentoring is a relationship aimed to provide mutual learning by participants with common goals. IPAA WA has established a program for one-on-one mentoring as a service to Individual Members. Read more about the program and eligibility below.

The IPAA WA Individual Member Mentoring program aims to provide mutual learning for participants with common goals. The program runs over nine months, commencing in February. Mentors and mentees are matched based on their skills, experience, and development goals. Participants can expect a likely time commitment of at least one face-to-face meeting per four-six weeks, but the exact commitment is to be agreed between the mentor and mentee.

IPAA WA Personal Members are invited to express their interest for a place as a mentee in the program – there is no additional charge to Personal Members to participate in the program. If you are interested in being a mentor, membership is not required.

A panel has been established to oversee the program, match participants, and evaluate the success of the program.

The number of participants in the program will be capped to ensure that the program is manageable for the Panel, and provides a valuable experience for participants. A match on the program is not guaranteed, as the number of mentees may exceed available places. The Panel will consider nominations to participate in the program based on the time they come in.

Either party may withdraw from the program at any stage, but must advise the Panel.

Young Professionals Mentoring Pool

The young professional mentor pool for young professionals and those new to the sector.

This pool is only for young professionals (aged 35 and under) who want to mentor / be mentored by other young professionals.

Mentees and mentors will have the option to be placed in this pool by selecting the option during their application. In doing so, you will only be matched to another young professional mentor / mentee who has also selected to be placed in this pool.

This is a great opportunity for young professional mentors to share their experiences and gain extra leadership skills. Likewise, young professional mentees will get the opportunity to learn from other young people who might have already navigated similar challenges being faced by the mentees.

Benefits of Mentoring

Both mentors and mentees can benefit from participating in a mentoring program. There is a vast amount of information available which highlights these benefits, and we encourage you to browse our mentoring resources page to view some resources we have collated that we think would be useful for mentors and mentees.

Over 90% of participants who participated in this program last year and accessed these resources said they found them useful (including mentors and mentees).

We have summarised what we believe are the three key benefits you can expect to receive by participating in this mentoring program:

Benefits for Mentors

Promote best practice by sharing experience and skills
Satisfaction from contributing to your mentee’s development
Opportunity to reflect upon and articulate your knowledge

Benefits for Mentees

Increased confidence in relating to more senior people in the sector
Exposure to new methods for approaching challenges
Insight into future planning and self-development

How to apply

Please complete the online application to express interest in being either a mentor or a mentee. The Panel will then consider all information provided, and contact both mentees and mentors to advise them of their match.

At this stage, the mentor and mentee may request another match or may withdraw from the program with no questions asked. However, parties should be aware that due to the limited number of participants, a request for another match will depend on other participants, and another match cannot be guaranteed.

Expectations

Once advised of their match, the obligation is on the mentee to contact their mentor to set up the first meeting. At this meeting, the parties are required to complete a ‘Mentoring Partnership Agreement’ form (provided prior to meeting), which establishes the ground rules, including the frequency of meetings, methods of contact and confidentiality.

When requested, participants are expected to provide feedback to the Panel to assist in evaluating the success of the program.

Eligibility

Personal Members (including Complimentary Young Professionals) are invited to participate in the Mentoring Program at no additional cost to their existing membership cost. If you are not currently a Personal Member, you may join to take advantage of this new initiative.

If you are interested in being a mentor, you do not need to be a Personal Member to participate in the mentoring program.

This program supports IPAA WA’s strategic objectives to:

Inform and Improve: Inform and improve public sector outcomes by delivering high quality, industry recognised professional development and training programs.
Connect and Celebrate: Provide opportunities to develop a connected and collaborative public sector. and celebrate the successes of the public sector.
Inspire and Influence: Inspire and influence the public sector by providing opportunities to discuss and advocate for targeted outcomes.

Terms and Conditions

By completing the Expression of Interest Form, I agree to the following terms and conditions:

Remain a financial member of IPAA WA for the duration of the Mentoring Program (mentees only)
Provide feedback to IPAA WA on my experience of the mentoring program
Respect the confidentiality of the mentoring relationship
Advise the Panel if you choose to withdraw from the mentoring program.

All personal information provided by the mentor and mentee will be treated as confidential, and will only be used by IPAA WA for the purposes of this program.

Support

Any queries or concerns with the program or your match can be discussed confidentially with a member of the Panel. Please contact us in the first instance.

IPAA WA Individual Mentoring Program