The Director, Learning and Teaching Centre is responsible for the provision of high level academic leadership at Australian Catholic University and management of the Learning and Teaching Centre, in order to promote quality learning, teaching and scholarship across the University.

The position supports the academic teaching community in the continual improvement of the student experience by means of enhanced teaching and assessment practice via better pedagogy and increased use of information and communication technology.

The LTC Director is a member of the University's Academic Board, the Courses and Quality Assurance Committee, the University Learning and Teaching Committee and Chair of the Assessment Committee. He is also a member of the University’s Executive Planning Group and a Vice Chancellor nominated representative on the University’s Staff Consultative Committee. In addition, he is on the Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency ‘Register of Experts’ specialising in the areas of Learning Technologies, IT/Systems Administration, Academic Assessment and Moderation Methodologies and, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. He is also on the Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching ‘Register of Assessors’ and is the Vice-President of the Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development (CADAD).

Rebecca Awdry is the Manager of Academic Quality at the University of Canberra. Her primary role supports strategic projects which look to improve academic quality, student engagement and retention through improved curriculum design, policies and processes. Rebecca is undertaking a PhD on the topic of contract cheating in Higher Education. The study is investigating prevalence of contract cheating globally; it consider the extent, range and ownership of the essay mills and associated sites; and explores the reasons why contract cheating may have seen a rise in recent years, and how this may relate to the delivery and objectives of education today. Rebecca is the project lead for the Global Essay Mills Survey project (GEMS).

Simon Bedford’s passion for curriculum transformation comes from his life-long belief in supporting students to create their own roadmap through programmes of study which, too often contain knowledge that is large and nebulous but, has to be learned in order for students to be successful in their chosen discipline area. Simon engaged in collaborative curriculum design and development early in his career, where he encouraged the adoption of a holistic programme approach to student learning with constructive alignment at its foundation. He was able to lead a curriculum embedded approach to work integrated learning (WIL) and personal and professional development that students require to become the professionals of the future. This is also where his interest in assessment and feedback quality assurance was sown during his work on the new framework for assessment policy. This work has continued since his appointment as assessment and feedback scholar where he has led on key teaching and assessment policy review, its successful deployment into teaching practice, and evidencing that impact on the student learning experience (learning analytics). 

Dr Craig Cameron is a Senior Lecturer in Corporations Law at Griffith University and Corporate Counsel for the Dental Services Network, advising on corporate and employment issues. In addition to his teaching duties, Craig has served as a Program Director within the Griffith Business School, and as a co-ordinator of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programs in Accounting, Financial Planning and Economics. In terms of research, Craig has published extensively in the WIL field on topics including: labour regulation, legal risk and risk management in WIL programs; industry relationships; and generic skills development and self-efficacy of business students. His research was also cited by Professor Andrew Stewart and Professor Rosemary Owens in their report to the Fair Work Ombudsman on unpaid work practices.

Michael is the CEO of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, which is the body responsible for the accreditation of nearly 500 Australian psychology programs under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS).  He has a long history in the field of accreditation and regulation in both Australia and the UK and has held senior roles at the Australian Dental Council, TEQSA, the British Psychological Society and the Institution of Chemical Engineers.  He holds a BEng(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick (UK), an MBA from Melbourne Business School and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Doug is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport & Physical Activity with over fourteen years industry experience and ten years in Higher Education. Doug was recently awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Institute for Enterprise and Entrepreneurs, the highest accolade the institute can award. Previously Doug spent seven years working in Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Thailand, returning to England in 2007.

Doug joined the Higher Education Academy as their Head of Academic Practice in June 2015, moving into the role of Head of Global Employability and Enterprise in April 2017. Prior to this Doug was Head of Employability and Enterprise at Northumbria University.

In 2012 Doug developed the concept of a framework for employability to support institutions in developing more consistent approaches to this important area of work, with a particular focus on curriculum design. In 2013 Doug went on to develop this work further and co-authored the Higher Education Academy publication Defining & developing your approach to employability: A framework for higher education institutions with Maureen Tibby and both then led on the refresh of this framework in 2015.

Doug has spent the last five years supporting institutions to embed this framework both in the curriculum design process, working with Senior Management, Academic Registry, Faculties, departments and programme teams and more broadly across institutions through engagement with other key stakeholders such as Student Unions’ and Careers Services.

Doug is currently studying part-time for a PhD with Northumbria University focused on institutional employability policies and practice in Higher Education and is in his final year.

Jacqui Elson-Green is responsible for developing initiatives that focus on quality and compliance and is the convenor of HES’s Higher Education Quality Network. Jacqui has expertise in communications, strategic planning, government and community relationships and building networks.

Jacqui has worked in the Australian higher education sector for more than 25 years including holding senior roles at a number of universities and as a general manager at IDP Education Australia. She is a former editor of Campus Review and was the Director of Communication and Engagement at the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Amanda Henderson has an extensive career in nursing education, research, and leadership nationally in both academic and clinical settings. She also has a national profile working across all health disciplines in her role as Discipline Scholar (Health) with the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. This was a co-joint appointment with a medical colleague from the University of Adelaide, when six learning outcomes common across 26 health disciplines were developed as part of the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) Project. More recently, in 2016, she was awarded a Senior National Teaching Fellowship from the Office for Learning and Teaching, Canberra. Amanda has particular interest and expertise in clinical governance regarding optimizing learning in clinical practice settings. She has over 120 publications in peer reviewed international publications and received over $4 million funding.

Mrs. Humphries’s current role is the Nurse Educator of the Emergency Department at Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) Jubilee Hospitals.  QE II Hospital sees 56,505 presentations annually and has a mixed adult/paediatric patient cohort.  Mrs. Humphries has over 30 year’s emergency nursing experience, 10 years’ experience in the field of education.  She is also a credentialed Emergency Nurse endorsed by the College of Emergency Nursing in 2016.  She graduated with a certificate in nursing in 1980 and holds Master’s Degree in Advance practice Emergency Nursing. During her Nurse Educator role, she is involved in several research projects, for instance: looking at Adult Advance life support training using an interdisciplinary model, Cannulation, and geriatric care in the emergency department. She is a member of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA) and Committee member of the Statewide Emergency Nurses Education Committee (SWENEC).  She is currently responsible for 109 nurse’s clinical education at various skills levels, under taking various academic and departmental courses.  One of her biggest passion is to be able to collaborate with Academic institutes is an opportunity to translate research into practice and provide the real experiences and academic challenges that nurses at the coal face, face each day.  Together with identifying their learning needs, and with our academic partners, respond and shape learning that is meaningful and sustainable. 

Professor Kwong Lee Dow retired from the University of Melbourne as Vice-Chancellor in 2004, having earlier been Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Education over a 20 year period. He was also Vice-Chancellor pro tem at the University of Ballarat in 2006.

Beginning his working life as a science and mathematics teacher, Kwong became a College Lecturer in Chemistry and then Senior Lecturer in Education at Melbourne University. He was appointed as a Professor in 1973.

Over the years he has held various Victorian and Commonwealth Government appointments. From 1997 to 2003 he chaired the Victorian Board of Studies, later the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. In 2002-03 he chaired a Commonwealth Review of Teaching and Teacher Education and, since its establishment, has been Deputy Chair of the National Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership.

From 1992-2003 Kwong was a member of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation and helped to found the Hong Kong Institute of Education, serving on its Council. He has participated in reviews of the National Institute of Education in Singapore and of universities in New Zealand, most recently in an audit of Victoria University of Wellington in 2005.

Kwong was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in 1984, received the Sir James Darling Medal of the Australian College of Education in 1994, in 2005 was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and in 2012 was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Professor Kwong Lee Dow was appointed to the University of Tasmania Council in March 2014.

Dr Nulty is an Educational Developer for Australian Catholic University based in its Learning and Teaching Centre. He is nationally and internationally recognised for his expertise on institutional policy and practice in the assessment of student learning, and academic standards, including consensus moderation. He also has expertise in curriculum design, and the evaluation of educational programs including student evaluation of teaching. While providing strategic leadership on these matters, he also leads ACU’s (entirely online) Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (GCHE). With approximately 150 students currently enrolled, this is possibly the largest GCHE in the country.

Pam Pryor was the inaugural Registrar of the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board and held this position for 6 years until August 2017. She continues to manage the development of the OHS Body of Knowledge which underpins much OHS professional education.

Pam is also a member of the VET Business Services Industry Reference Committee and is currently chairing the working party overseeing the review of work health and safety qualifications in the VET sector.

Pam is also a research partner in the International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO) having contributed to the development of the Global Capability Framework for OHS Practice and the INSHPO collaborative project with the mining industry on applying the INSHPO framework to develop an OHS capability framework for mining. 

Professor Pascale Quester was the Inaugural Professor of Marketing at the University of Adelaide, appointed in 2002. She then took on the role of Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of the Professions. In 2007, she was appointed Executive Dean of the Faculty of the Professions, a role she held until her appointment as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic) at the University in 2011.

She holds an M.A. from Ohio State University and a PhD from Massy University (NZ). An active researcher in the areas of consumer behaviour and marketing communications, she is the author of two leading textbooks (as well as one in French) and over 200 international journal publications.

In 2009, she was awarded the prestigious title of Distinguished Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy and in 2012, was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite (National Order of Merit), one of France's highest honours, in recognition of her contribution to higher education in both France and Australia. In 2015, she was awarded SA Telstra Business Women’s Award in the Government and Academic category.

Chris Rust is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Oxford Brookes where he worked for over 25 years. He was Head of the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, and Deputy Director of the Human Resource Directorate from 2001-2011. Between 2005-10 he was also Deputy Director for two Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - ASKe (Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange) and the Reinvention Centre for undergraduate research (led by Warwick University). For his last three years, he was Associate Dean (Academic Policy). Chris is currently working on a number of projects, including examining the relationship between graduate attributes and employability and how approaches to learning can improve both students’ employability and their academic achievement. He is also part of the Higher Education Academy (UK) team looking at reviewing the External Examining Arrangements to ascertain if they are fit for purpose and looking ahead to the changing HE environment of 2025.

Dr Geoff Scott is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education and Sustainability at Western Sydney University, Australia. From 2004-12 he was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Quality) and Executive Director of Sustainability at UWS. During this time he led a range of successful external quality audits and established RCE-GWS. He is a widely published author on change leadership, professional capability, assuring achievement standards and quality assurance in higher education. His book Turnaround Leadership for Higher Education with Canada’s Michael Fullan (2009) was nominated for the 2010 US Colleges Bellwether Award.

He is a former director of the Australian Council for Educational Research, a Fellow of the Australian College of Education, a member of TEQSA’s Panel of Experts and a higher education auditor and consultant in many countries. From 2014-16 he was a National Senior Teaching Fellow with Australia’s Office for Learning and Teaching. In 2007, he was the Recipient of the Australian Higher Education Quality Award.

Associate Professor Judith Smith is the Associate Director, Real World Learning at Queensland University of Technology. In this role she provides university-wide leadership to Real World Learning and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in strategy, policy, curriculum design and pedagogy. She is currently leading a number of institutional initiatives supporting future-focused curriculum transformation and technology solutions for visualising and connecting curriculum information for students and staff. Judith is a Board member of Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN), is chair of the ACEN Research, Scholarship and Professional Learning Subcommittee and a member of the WACE International Research Group. She has contributed to a number of teaching and learning research grants relating to related to WIL, learning and assessment including an OLT Extension project, Developing strategies to maximize industry contribution and engagement with the WIL experience, an ATN Excellence in Learning and Teaching Project, Expanding Work Integrated Learning (WIL) possibilities: enhancing student employability through innovative WIL models and an ARC Discovery Project researching electronic portfolio assessment in the arts. She has received a QUT Outstanding Academic Contribution Award, a Carrick Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning for active and authentic learning and an Osmotherly Award (Ausdance Qld) for outstanding contribution to dance education.

Ieva Stupans is Professor of Pharmacy at RMIT University. Ieva has almost worked as an academic for almost 30 years and has undertaken both federally funded and unfunded project work in teaching and learning over this time. She is enthused by futures focused student learning, primarily though program wide authentic assessment strategies. She is also focused on using experiential learning opportunities to improve student learning outcomes across the curriculum. 

Dr Karen Theobald, Director of Academic Programs, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology. Emergency Nursing Study Area Coordinator. Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom

Dr Karen Theobald is the Director of Academic Programs, at the Queensland University of Technology in the School of Nursing. Karen oversees the strategic direction of learning and teaching in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses, presently leading the implementation of the reaccredited Bachelor of Nursing and associated degrees and Master of Nurse Practitioner courses. She consistently focuses attention on developing strategies that promote student engagement and improve learning outcomes, and to the delivery of teaching in ways that recognise and accommodate the needs of diverse students. A strong focus in her teaching is a commitment to learning through industry collaboration and work-integrated learning. She continues to engage in high quality and innovative teaching practice, in the design and delivery of curricula, driving innovation in curriculum, designing and piloting learning and teaching research projects and mentoring and supporting less experienced staff in the areas of teaching and learning.

Bernadette Thomson is currently the Nursing Director of Education in the Nursing Practice Development Unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Metro South Hospital and Health Service.  Bernadette has worked across many nursing specialties including paediatrics, neonatal intensive care, gynaecology and midwifery.  Bernadette has been involved in nursing education for over 15 years across the tertiary, vocational and industry sectors and has been in her current role for 7 years.  Her professional interest areas are patient centred care, patient safety, nursing leadership and interprofessional learning.  

Michael Tomlinson is Director of the Assurance Group at TEQSA (the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency). He leads case teams to organise and conduct assessments of over 120 providers of higher education (including all of Australia’s universities) against Australia’s Higher Education Threshold Standards. He is also leading the implementation of the Higher Education Standards Framework (2015) for TEQSA and TEQSA’s role in implementing the recommendations of the Admissions Transparency Report.

Before coming to TEQSA, Michael was an Audit Director at the former Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), and for twenty years worked in Australian universities, for the last fifteen of these in senior positions at Swinburne University of Technology.

Michael is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and of the International Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He has been an expert panel member for a number of provider reviews for the national accreditation agency in Timor Leste.

Sally Varnham is a Professor of Law at the University of Technology Sydney. She is the immediate past Chair of the University Academic Board and is currently a member of the UTS Council. Her research interest is in law and policy relating to all sectors of education with a strong interest in the university/student relationship. Sally is a co-editor “Higher Education and the Law” (Federation, 2015).

Her OLT Strategic Priority Project: ‘Student Engagement in University Decision Making and Governance: towards a more systemically inclusive student voice’ considered student engagement processes in Australian institutions against a background of student partnership in tertiary education in comparative sectors abroad. Following completion of that Project, Sally was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching National Senior Fellowship (2016-2017). Pursuant to this Fellowship she has undertaken a sector-wide collaboration which has led to the development of principles and a framework to facilitate and sustain student partnership in decision-making in Australian institutions.

With over 30 years of professional experience and significant contributions to e-Health and healthcare technology, Klaus Veil is internationally recognised as a leader and educator in Digital Health, Healthcare Information Technology and eHealth Interoperability Standards Development.

Klaus has held senior leadership positions in commercial and not-for-profit healthcare organisations: seven years as CIO of a large private Australian healthcare corporation, 17 years as Principal of a specialist healthcare systems consultancy, 11 years as Chairman of the Australian HL7 organisation, eight years as Board Member of the international HL7 Standards organisation and six years as President/Vice-President of the Australasian College of Health Informatics. Through these positions, Klaus has established excellent working relationships with government healthcare policy makers and industry leaders in Australia and beyond.

Klaus currently serves as Vice President of the Australian Council of Professions and is Co-Convenor of the Joint Accreditation Work Groups which span the entire higher education sector and include collaborations with peak bodies Universities Australia (UA), the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) and the Council of Private Higher Education (COPHE).