What now? What next? Insights into Australia's tertiary education sector

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Jobs and Skills Australia's Deputy Commissioners, Trevor Gauld and Megan Lilly. There are references throughout their conversation to a number of JSA reports and data available on the JSA website. If you don't already visit the site regularly then these links may be useful to you: Monthly labour market data at the regional level:  https:...

In this episode of the podcast, Claire is joined by RMIT University's Deputy Vice Chancellor Vocational Education and Vice President, Mish Eastman. Mish explains how the university's College of Vocational Education is partnering with Australian and international businesses and governments to deliver impact for learners. During the episode Mish references: RMIT's new 'Earn and L...

In this episode Claire is joined by the Vice Chancellor of Western Sydney University, Prof. George Williams. Prof. Williams' Meanjin article is available at: https://meanjin.com.au/essays/a-university-not-a-corporation/ And you can email admin@clairefield.com.au if you're interested in a one month free trial of Claire's regular analysis and updates on the tertiary sector. Contact Cl...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by researcher and educational designer Dr Selena Chan from Ara Institute of Technology. She explains the incredible work being done in New Zealand to help their VET (and higher education) sectors grapple with GenAI. If you don't regularly attend the annual AVETRA Conference - then you're missing out on hearing from great researchers like Dr...

In this episode of the podcast Dr Rocco Guarnaccia joins Claire to discuss his research on commercial, for-profit, providers. He shares his insights into which RTOs are likely to thrive and which will struggle as the sector continues to change. Rocco's thesis is available at: https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/items/5de8508e-cc37-49f3-ace6-dcd7e8512dd5 The government media release on &apos...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by two casual academics, Emily Foley and Tony Williams, who also hold positions at the National Tertiary Education Union. Emily and Tony share their personal experiences and those of others in the sector and what the highly casualised, precarious nature of their employment means. The articles and reports mentioned in the podcast are listed below - bu...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Prof Himashu Rai from the Indian Institute of Management Indore. What IIM Indore is doing to educate the next generation of Indian business leaders and engineers has to be heard to be believed. If you want to know more about IIM Indore - their website is:  https://iimidr.ac.in/ and you can find Prof. Rai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/as...

In this special episode of the podcast, Claire is joined by Dirk Mulder, founder and CEO of The Koala News and Tracy Harris, Principal, Tracy Harris Solutions to discuss where the international education sector stands now that the government's legislative changes to amend the ESOS Act look unlikely to be passed by the Senate. The podcast is the audio recording of a webinar Claire, Dirk and Tr...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Chemène Sinson and Maria Langwell to discuss the Revised Standards and why it's important that the Standards should still include a definition of 'competency', why there is a need for proper education and support for RTOs during this transition, and how training providers can map their existing practices to the new Standards. If you...

On this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by two VET leaders helping shape VET's response to changes in the way work is done in the construction industry: Jason Jennings from the ACT's Construction Industry Training Council and Eve Price from ConCOVE (New Zealand's Construction & Infrastructure Centre of Vocational Excellence). You can find out more about ConCOVE at: https...

In this episode Claire steps through the following changes the Australian government is looking to make to international education: through the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment Bill - which aims to improve transparency in relation to education agents, to limit new international education providers and their activities, and to cap international student enrolments Claire's ana...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by the President of the Digital Education Council, Danny Bielik to discuss the work of the Council and how education is changing and what that means for institutions. During their conversation they discuss: a recent global survey conducted by the Council on students' views and use of AI in education:  https://www.digitaleducationcouncil.com/post...

In this episode, Claire speaks with Michael Fay OAM, Director and Head of Education Services at AFG Venture Group and Special Advisor to the Executive Director of the ASEAN Universities Network. Michael shares his deep experience and insights on Australia's universities' (and VET providers') engagement in Southeast Asia and with ASEAN - and talks about the upcoming ASEAN Australia E...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Kane Murdoch, Macquarie University's Head of Conduct, Appeals and Misconduct to discuss issues related to academic integrity - especially since the advent of Generative AI. Kane mentions the following articles in the interview: Educational integrity enforcement pyramid with Cath Ellis: Ellis, C., & Murdoch, K. (2024). The educational inte...

In this episode of the podcast Claire was joined by Amit Sevak, the CEO of Educational Testing Service (ETS), to discuss the role ETS plays in international education and what they are seeing as countries like Australia move to restrict international student numbers. Amit also shares his insights into some of the key takeaways from ETS' 2024 Human Progress Report - a global survey of attitude...

In this episode Claire shares what she learned from two of the presenters at the HolonIQ 2024 "Future of Higher Education & Workforce" Summit . Prof. Rose Luckin and Dr Victoria Galan-Muros are respectively experts in AI in education and on microcredentials in higher education. The insights they shared left Claire (and other Summit attendees) with a lot to contemplate. The website fo...

In this episode Claire is joined by the CEO and Managing Director of Studiosity, Mike Larsen, to discuss their latest research on student wellbeing. The research report can be downloaded from Studiosity's website: https://www.studiosity.com/au-student-wellbeing-2024 Contact Claire: Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social  Check out the news pag...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Peter Mackey, Executive Director of Skills and Industry Capacity, Western Parklands City Authority, NSW Department of Planning to discuss a new model of skills development delivering real results in Western Sydney. Crucially, as the world of work changes fast and both higher education and VET providers (and the respective VET and higher education...

In this episode of the podcast, Claire unpacks the recommendations in the Final Report of the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training’s Inquiry into the Perceptions and Status of VET. The 2023 report showing how GenAI is impacting so many of the job roles (and hence Training Packages) in Business, ICT and Finance was published by Future Skills Organisatio...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Timmy Theopelus, Vice President Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Axioo - part of the Indonesian technology company PT Tera Data Indonusa. Timmy explains why PT Tera Data developed the Axioo Class program which now operates in almost 1,000 vocational colleges in Indonesia and why the program has been recognised by the Internationa...

In this episode Claire unpacks the recommendations of the Universities Accord Panel and the response of the key stakeholders in the sector. In doing so she references the following: The Universities Accord Panel final report:  https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/final-report My analysis of the challenges in implementing some of the Panel's recommendations:  h...

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Jennie Tax, Executive Director – Education at Experience Gold Coast. Jennine shares details of the really impressive work being done by Experience Gold Coast to support all tertiary students studying on the Gold Coast including their unique Kickstart Graduate Program. Find out more about Experience Gold Coast at:  https://experiencegoldcoast.au Al...

In this episode of the podcast, Claire was joined by Jeffrey Lehrer,  National Compliance Manager at The Scout Association of Australia's RTO. He outlines why Scouts have an RTO and how both adult volunteers and young scouts benefit - as well as discussing the work being done (in Australia and internationally) to better recognise non-formal learning. For international listeners interested in...

In this episode Claire speaks with Russ Hawkins, CEO of Community Colleges Australia, about a range of VET issues.  Find out more about what Russ and Claire discussed: Community Colleges Australia:  https://cca.edu.au 2023 CCA conference:  https://cca.edu.au/what-we-do/2023-cca-annual-conference/ House of Representatives Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services:  https://www.aph...

In this episode Claire explains the suite of reforms to international education announced in 2023 and what they mean for different providers and the sector overall.  She refers to the following reports, publications and releases:  2022 investigative reports by the SMH/The Age on Australia's migration system August 2023 SMH/The Age "ghost colleges" article   August 2023 joint media r...