July 29, 2026 AI in the Workplace, Making Decisions, Recruitment, Recruitment & HR Technology

Tempted to use AI to shortlist your job applicants? Here are four reasons that’s a bad idea

Four reasons not to use AI to shortlist applicants

Reviewing job applications can be hard, time-consuming work – especially when you have a long list of applicants.

And in the last couple of years, AI large language model (LLM) tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini have become appealing options to cut down the hours and effort of reviewing and shortlisting your job applications.

But while AI can help automate many once-manual processes, should reviewing applications be one of them?

Professor Alysia Blackham from Melbourne Law School is one of the world’s leading experts in age discrimination law. She explains why it’s a bad idea to rely on AI tools to screen your job applicants.

August 19, 2026 Human Resources, Legal Issues, Remuneration

Big changes to the SCHADS Award: What NFP employers need to know

On 1 June 2026, the Fair Work Commission handed down a significant decision that will reshape pay and classification structures for most of Australia’s social, community, and disability services employers.

Back in June 2024, the Commission launched a review of five modern awards to understand whether they had been undervaluing work because it was done predominantly by women.

The FWC found that the previous system – inherited from older awards – was outdated, overly complex, confusing, and frequently led to misclassifications and workplace pay disputes due to unclear role descriptions.

The result of the review is a complete overhaul of the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award – the most significant reform to the award in more than 15 years. To help unpack the changes, we spoke with Ben McAlpine, director of policy and advocacy at the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS).

August 27, 2014 Recruitment

Four ways to recruit more women for the top jobs at your NFP

How many women are in the top roles in your organisation or on your board of management? A 2012 report from Women on Boards found that while up to 85% of community sector workers are female, there only about 60% in senior paid positions. From a volunteer perspective, despite volunteers in Australia having traditionally been mostly […]

July 15, 2026 Health & Wellbeing, Managing People Well

Supporting employees through grief in the workplace: a guide for NFPs

Every workplace will, at some point, be affected by grief. An employee loses a parent, grandparent, pet or friend. They take compassionate leave and, before long, they’re back at work.

But while workplace policies can determine when someone’s leave is over, they can’t determine how long their grief lasts, or how it affects their work.

Given how prevalent grief is in our lives, the support we receive in the workplace after a loss can make a real difference to how we process it. We spoke to Dr Kelly Gough, president of the Australian Psychological Society, about the different ways grief can affect employees, and what managers can do to help them feel seen and supported.

July 22, 2026 Culture and Values, Health & Wellbeing, Legal Issues

The right to disconnect: is your organisation doing enough?

Going above and beyond is often part of the culture in many NFPs. Employees answer messages out of hours because a client is in crisis, stay back because an event needs to run, or volunteer extra hours because they believe deeply in the mission.

But when passion quietly becomes an expectation of being constantly “on”, even the most committed employees can reach their limit. Burnout, resentment and staff turnover can follow – particularly in organisations already stretched by limited resources.

February 10, 2026 AI in the Workplace, Human Resources, Organisational Strategy

Four trends that will shape NFP workplaces in 2026

With 2026 underway, we’re kicking things off with a look at what the year ahead might hold for the NFP sector workforce. And yes, as you might expect, AI will continue to have an impact on the sector this year.

But it’s far from the only thing NFP leaders should be on the lookout for this year. Here are our four predictions for the workforce trends the NFP sector will see this year.

March 18, 2026 AI in the Workplace, Leadership, Productivity

Work Smarter with AI: How NFP leaders can embed responsible AI use

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being adopted across not-for-profit workplaces, but alongside the productivity gains from this new technology comes a growing concern: what is the cognitive cost for the people using it?

Research shows that relying heavily on AI can degrade critical thinking and intellectual independence – precisely the skills NFPs need to solve complex problems.

So how can NFP leaders protect teams’ cognitive skills while still benefiting from the productivity gains AI can offer?

April 22, 2026 AI in the Workplace, Human Resources, Legal Issues, Organisational Strategy

Why your NFP needs an AI policy – and how to write one

Generative AI has quickly made its way into almost every organisational workflow, and left the door open for a range of ethical grey areas to become potentially serious issues. From privacy breaches and the misuse of sensitive data, to biased outputs, misinformation and reputational risks – the risks that AI use pose to NFPs are new, varied, and often invisible until something goes wrong.

(And if you think your organisation’s employees aren’t really using AI, then think again – as many as a quarter (21-27%) of all employees are using AI tools secretly at work.)

So where should you start when it comes to writing an effective AI policy for your organisation, and what elements should one include?

May 24, 2017 Leadership, Making Decisions

How to make tough decisions

Making a tough decision about your team or your organisation’s workforce can be, well…tough.

NFP leaders and managers are called upon to make tough decisions as a matter of course. But what do you do when the decision is really important, and it’s really not clear what course of action you should take?

Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Badaracco is an expert in making what he calls “grey area” problems – ones that can sometimes be difficult to clearly assess. He suggests five practical questions you should ask yourself that can help you and your team illuminate the “greyest of grey areas”.

July 8, 2013 Recruitment

Call or cull? Six ways to sort the wheat from the chaff in your next stack of job applications

Recruiting great staff to your organisation should be a pleasure. But when you are short on time and faced with a pile of applications to sort through, the process of selecting only a few to interview can seem overwhelming. Here are six easy ways to reduce the size of your pile of applications.

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