ASQA Representative/s

Coming Soon!

Allison Miller

Director, Digital Capability

Allison Miller is a professional learning and business development leader of 25 years. She is the Director and Lead Consultant of Digital Capability, an organisation which specialises in cutting edge online learning and online business solutions. Allison also helps educational organisations ensure that their training and assessment is effective and compliant, especially online. Allison has a Master of Learning and Development (Organisational Development), Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Education (Secondary Business), Diploma of VET, and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Diploma of Business. She also leads the ePortfolios Australia professional network and the annual Australian Eportfolio Forum.

Angela McGregor

Owner & Principal Consultant, RTO Consulting

Angela McGregor is the owner and principal consultant of RTO Consulting who has been offering consulting services throughout Australia. RTO Consulting was also established to provide guidance, coaching and assistance to businesses wanting to become a RTO, existing RTOs and businesses wanting to develop nationally accredited courses. Angela has successfully set up her own RTO in January 2003, which she successfully sold in July of 2012. As a practitioner dedicated to sharing knowledge, Angela has consulted through many forums pertaining to compliance issues and improvement strategies for training and assessment services. Angela is known for her current industry, knowledge and success in developing accredited courses and track record in setting up RTOs and assisting RTOs with compliance against the VET Quality Framework. Angela holds a number of qualifications including; Diploma of Quality Auditing, Diploma of VET Registration and Management, Diploma of Business, Diploma of Training and Assessment and Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing.

Anni Yaringa

Anni has worked in the vocational education and training sector for more than 30 years, and has witnessed all the changes from the original introduction of competencies in the late 1990s and the various national VET frameworks: NFROT, ARF, AQTF, VQF and the current Standards for RTOs. Her work in the last 15 years has focused on compliance – particularly relating to assessment. Anni’s goal is to find the simplest solution that works. She works independently, facilitating capability development workshops, developing assessment materials, validating assessment materials and judgements. Her passion is to help the front line educator work effectively within the constraints and rules we are bound by.

Brett Hall

Director Research Policy and Projects, Jobs Queensland

Brett has spent close to a decade working on issues related to skills and workforce development, workforce productivity, and Vocational Education and Training (VET). This has been in a range of policy development, research and program delivery roles across several state and federal government agencies. Brett is currently the acting Executive Director of Jobs Queensland– an independent entity established to provide advice to government on skills demand, future workforce planning and development, and apprenticeships and traineeships.

Chemène Sinson

Founder & Principal, Blackwater Projects

Chemène is the founder and Principal at Blackwater Projects, an independent practice that provides advice, products and services that support adult learning and improve performance.

Chemène uses her diverse background in education to inform her work. An Olympian, she has coached elite athletes and mentored coaches. In the school system, she has taught kindergarten, year 12, and a few years in-between. Since launching Blackwater Projects in 2000 she has worked with a mix of corporate, community and government-sector clients.

Chemène has worked in VET for 20 years and specialises in TAE qualifications. She is a TAE trainer and has written TAE materials that more than 100 RTOs have used since they were introduced. She regularly runs professional development events for new and experienced trainers and assessors who want to go ‘beyond the basics’.

Chemène works with her professional network to remain informed of latest research and trends in learning and performance around the world.

Chris Enright

Director, RTO Logic

Chris Enright is the Director of RTO Logic, a consultancy firm that provides wrap around services to the VET sector.  He has more than 15 years’ experience in the Education and Training sector, assuming key leadership roles including operations and chief executive officer roles, driving business improvement and development for numerous respected companies.  

Chris is passionate about professional development and regularly facilitates workshops on a range of topics from intimate business strategy sessions to large full day workshops focusing on RTO compliance.  His down to earth approach ensures participants walk away with a practical understanding of their obligations within the sector. 

Chris is also the Board of Governance’s Chair for Carringbush Adult Education, a not-for profit training organisation in Melbourne’s inner East.  Chris now spends the majority of his time providing business strategy and compliance advice to RTOs across the country.  He holds a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School. 

Dr Dan Hill

Director, SpecTraining Education

Over the last three decades, Dan has had the fortune of working in several industry sectors including defence, retail, wholesale distribution, mining, education and ITC. As a published author of several industry-leading titles, and a social media influencer with over 22,000 followers, Dan has gained a considerable reputation in adult education, and education leadership and management.

He facilitates nationally accredited courses in vocational education & training, leadership, business administration, frontline management, financial management, time prioritisation and customer service. Dan has also developed and run several specialised programs in the fields of emotional intelligence, workplace training and assessment, brain-based learning, and operational management.

As a passionate facilitator and speaker, Dan is able to engage groups with the right mix of humour, theory, practical activities and self-reflection. His professional experience allows him to draw upon interesting and poignant anecdotes and examples that link past experience in management, entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, operations and strategy to the context of any workplace or training environment.

Geoff Cake

Learning Leader, MRWED Training and Assessment

Geoff has been with MRWED for eight years and brings more than 25 years of training and facilitation experience to the VET industry, gained in both Australian and international environments. He passionately demonstrates the ability to encourage learners to develop new skills and mind sets in a variety of diverse cultural and economic settings.

Ian Irving

Chief Executive, Naval Shipbuilding College

Ian Irving is a well-known and high profile Australian Defence and National Security Industry senior executive.

Ian has more than 30 years’ experience at senior executive levels within the Australian defence and aerospace industry, and in 2019 was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Naval Shipbuilding Institute, responsible for the delivery of Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding College.

Most recently Ian was Chief Executive for Northrop Grumman Australia, with responsibility for leading the development of Northrop Grumman within Australia, taking the company from inception to one of the major ongoing contributors to Australia’s national security capabilities.

In 2011 Ian established ALTILUS, a management and professional services consultancy serving the government and the defence sector, where he held responsibility for the conduct of life-cycle governance gate reviews for the Defence Department on Australia’s major defence acquisition programmes. Ian was also assigned responsibility as the Commonwealth’s Lead Technical Negotiator for the successful $1.4B acquisition of Australia’s future military logistics vehicles.

Ian has also held responsibility as Vice President, Land Systems and deputy Chief Executive officer at Thales Australia, where he held various leadership positions over a period spanning twelve years. Including responsibility for the management of Australia’s armaments and munitions factories and the development of Australia’s local protected military vehicle capability. This was preceded by eleven years with Rockwell and Boeing Australia.

Starting his career in the naval domain Ian has held technical and leadership responsibilities for projects and product development in naval combat systems, naval and airborne sonar, aerospace systems, helicopter avionics, mission system and platform simulation, training services, military protected vehicles, C4I systems, armaments, explosive ordnance systems, logistics support services, and autonomous aircraft systems.

Over the last three decades Ian has held senior positions within industry across many of Australia’s major land, sea and air defence procurement and sustainment programmes. This has included responsibility for the delivery of major defence systems, the conduct of leading edge research and development, and the establishment of industrial capabilities delivering key defence exports for Australia. In 2018 Ian was selected by his peers as the Chair of the peak Australian defence industry body, the Australian Industry Group (AiG), Defence National Executive Council.

Ian is an Honours graduate in Electrical Engineering from Sydney University. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Sir Richard Williams Foundation, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

This session will be presented as a panel session with the following panel members:

• Dan Fankhauser, Assistant Secretary - Naval Shipbuilding/Secretatiat - Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board. Department of Defence, Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group
• Rachel Botting, Naval Group: General Manager, Human Resources
• Penny Johnston, Director, Strategic Industry Partnerships, TAFE SA

Jane Goodfellow

Principal Lecturer, North Metropolitan TAFE

Jane Goodfellow is the Australian VET Teacher/Trainer 2017 winner and has a keen interest in alternative and innovative training methods. Jane has worked as a TAFE trainer for nearly 25 years and presented at many conferences around Australia sharing her new ideas for engaging VET students.

Jason Ash

General Manager, MRWED Training and Assessment

Jason has more than 15 years of training and assessment experience, gained predominantly in corporate environments. He has specialised in delivering training in sales, coaching, business communication and management and has received international acclaim for his work in Learning and Development. Jason was the winner of the Platinum Award for “Best Young Learning Leader” at the 2011 LearnX Asia-Pacific Awards and was named a young trainer to watch by US Training Magazine in 2012.

Jason is a two-time MRWED Trainer of the year and is one of only three trainers in Australia certified to deliver Bob Pike’s Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp, the world’s most well-respected trainer training program. A strong advocate for the participant-centred approach to training, Jason has spoken on the topic of Creative Training Techniques at conferences all over Australia and at multiple events in the United States.

Jason Blinman

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, The Maven Effect

Jason Blinman is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of The Maven Effect, but more recently, feedback has founded him to be classified as “A Unicorn; a majestic creature to behold both personally and professionally yet amazing to watch in action due to our limited comprehension of its magical abilities”.

Jason has held Senior, Executive and Board roles in RTO’s, Corporate L&D, Human Resources and Operations arenas. Before opening The Maven Effect, Jason held the role of Operations Manager of a prominent club in Sydney Australia. Combining exceptional strategy building techniques with “out of this world” people skills, Jason lead the company to boost its profit growth by $15 million in one financial year.  

Jason is a highly regarded Leader of industry, who brings a wealth of experience to each interaction, working with and learning from some of the World’s most recognised and loved brands such as The Disney Institute and McDonald’s Australia’s RTO.

Jason's Vision - "I want to change the hearts of Leaders everywhere".

John Blake

Industry Trainer, Box Hill Institute

With a unique industry skill set, John combines 30 years of work and teaching in Hospitality, EAL & Foundation Skills, and more recently, Educational delivery. He has written training programs and resources used in more than 10 countries and has liaised with dozens of clients for program start-ups and course design.

Having worked in 20 countries in cross-dimensional environments teaching participants of all ages and walks of life in a variety of RTOs and businesses, John is passionate about the opportunity he has to inspire teachers and trainers to go beyond their PowerPoint and engage participants with multimedia learning platforms to build meaningful relationships.

As teachers get excited at PD and seminars, they often take good ideas back in to their own classes and practice and re-invigorate their educational strategies and approaches.

With his own company, and having worked for both large and private RTOs, universities and dozens of organisations and industry groups enhancing training, John enjoys re-inventing vocational education, helping to make theory interesting through creative delivery approaches, contextualising assessments for specific industry needs and making a difference for the transformation of more knowledgeable industry-ready learners.

John Dwyer

Consultant

John Dwyer is a national VQF/AQTF trainer/assessor and consultant with experience in education and training spanning more than 60 years. He brings extensive Registered Training Organisation (RTO) experience and has a comprehensive history in developing and delivering a range of workshops and webinars on assessment, compliance, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), moderation and validation processes relating to VQF/AQTF compliance.

Karen Dymke

Director, Thoughtfulworks

Karen Dymke is an educator with over thirty years’ experience across a range of sectors, as a teacher, trainer, senior leader, coach and consultant. Her work includes lecturing at Latrobe University in Alternative Educational Models, including VET and the VCAL, as well as travelling Australia as a highly sought-after presenter sharing the latest educational research. Her passion is focused on partnering with educators to progress and support student learning, achievement and well-being, with a speciality in applied learning settings such as VET and TAFE. Karen’s work has been acknowledged through the Outstanding Teacher/Trainer of the Year award from the TAFE Development Centre, various scholarships and most recently with a Fellowship from the International Specialised Skills Institute, investigating the professionalization of adult educators. She thinks it should be fun (if hard work) when you learn!

Kathy Dennis

Assistant Secretary, VET Student Loans, Department of Education, Skills and Employment

Kathy is the Assistant Secretary responsible for the VET Student Loans Branch in the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Kathy has been a senior executive in the Commonwealth Public service for 17 years and also spent 12 months working for the ACT Government. She has undertaken a range of roles covering policy, program management and service delivery in the Department of Education, the ACT Health Directorate, the Department of Health, Medicare Australia and the Australian Taxation Office. 

Katya Holker

Co-founder and Director, Hawkeye Consultancy

Katya is the co-founder and Director of Hawkeye Consultancy, which provides training, support and auditing services to RTOs and businesses wishing to enter the VET sector. Having held a variety of roles including Administration Manager, Training Coordinator and Compliance Manager within numerous RTO’s, Katya specialises in audit preparation and various government funding agreements.

A strong believer in the powers of education, Katya is a VETiS Trainer/Assessor. A passionate educator committed to sharing knowledge, Katya strives to encourage critical thinking among both her students and clients.

When not beating the compliance drum at Hawkeye Consultancy, or training and assessing students, Katya can be found studying for her Master of Education.

Kerri Buttery

Director, VETNexus

Kerri Buttery has worked in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector for two decades as a Trainer/Assessor, RTO Manager and also as a Senior Lead Auditor for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Kerri has worked as a consultant for a range of organisations in the areas of establishing Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), conducting internal audits, consulting on VQF compliance, developing accredited courses, convening conferences and events, developing training and assessment materials, conducting professional development workshops and delivering Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

As the former Director of Content and Strategy for Velg Training, Kerri has extensive experience in providing advice and assistance to Registered Training Organisations in managing compliance,developing assessments and delivering training in line with the VET Quality Framework.  She also specialises in eLearning consulting, with a particular focus on the Canvas LMS by Instructure.

Kerri now provides professional development services on everything related to VQF compliance for an RTO through webinars, face-to-face workshops (public and on-demand) as well as presenting at conferences and other events.

Kevin Ekendahl

Managing Director, Audit Express

Kevin Ekendahl is the Managing Director of Audit Express, Kevin is passionate about Australian training and education, specialising in the provision of quality training, compliance consulting and internal audit. He has been a vocal and energetic campaigner for the reduction of regulation and red tape in the VET sector, and frequently provides advice to Ministers and Departments at state and Commonwealth levels. Kevin was previously a board member of the Victorian Board of the Medical Board of Australia and also publishes regularly on the topic of regulation and industry best practice. Prior to his work with Audit Express, he was the General Manager of Social Enterprises for a not-for-profit organisation and he also worked in the advertising sector in print and radio.

Laurie Kelly

Senior Consultant, Brain Friendly Training Pty Ltd

Laurie Kelly (Senior Consultant - Brain Friendly Training Pty Ltd) speaks both nationally and internationally on current knowledge of how the learning brain works to maximize the impact of teaching, and to create an openness factor in our approach to change and new learning.

With over 30 years experience as a National and International consultant, he has a reputation for having an uncanny ability to communicate on a level that everyone can appreciate and is passionate about the importance of the information he shares. Laurie's experience in improving brain engagement and thinking skills is vast - he is one of the most sought-after presenters in his field.

He preaches and practices the principles of Brain Friendly Training in all his work, so expect the ‘talk to be walked’. Have fun and enjoy the experience.

Maciek Fibrich

RTO Coach, Director and Principal Consultant, RTO Consultancy

For almost 20 years, Maciek Fibrich has been challenging the status-quo in the VET sector, often pushing the limits to achieve unexpected outcomes for RTOs. Some will also argue that disruption is part of Maciek’s DNA, but the reality is, Maciek is truly passionate about ensuring quality within the VET sector and working out ways to use technology to push quality, yet ensuring it never impacts on the human nature of training and assessment. Maciek commenced his VET journey in 1999 when he started his first RTO with his mother, and since then, he has seen the industry morph many times but has never lost sight of the industry’s main focus, educating our students.

Marc Ratcliffe

CEO & Founder, MRWED Training and Assessment

Marc Ratcliffe is a multi-award-winning trainer, author and education entrepreneur. He is the CEO and founder of MRWED Training and Assessment, a private RTO that specialises in Trainer Training. He is a strong advocate for "edu-tainment" and believes that learner involvement and fun are integral to student success. He continues to be an in demand conference speaker and workshop facilitator, having presented at more than 50 conferences in a dozen countries in the past decade and was recently named as the winner of the “Best Training and Development Leadership” Award for 2017 at the World Training and Development Congress in Mumbai.

Maria Langwell

Principal Consultant

Maria Langwell has worked within the VET sector for over 30 years, commencing within TAFE NSW where she worked in several positions across the Western Sydney Institute including strategic policy and planning. On her relocation to Melbourne, Maria managed several priority VET and employment services and programs as a Victorian public servant, with her last appointment as the funder of the private provider sector. In 2009, Maria shifted back into service delivery, where she worked at AMES, prior to heading up Spectrum Education and Training, a small community based RTO based in Broadmeadows. Within this period and in recognition of her leadership in servicing the most disadvantaged community members, SET was awarded the 2010 Small Training Provider of the Year. Maria moved to ITECA (former ACPET), where she supported compliance and quality across ACPET’s membership base as well as the wider VET community, through her initiation of ACPET’s PD program and health check services. Maria joined the Vocation Group as the Head of Quality Assurance and Education and led 3 of the RTOs to a fully compliant status. In 2015, Maria embarked on her boutique RTO consultancy service, where she continues to support RTOs nationally to interpret and apply the range of regulatory and funding requirements.

Mark Sinclair

Founder & Strategic Projects Executive, Mentor Education

Dr. Mark Sinclair established Mentor Education in 2003 with a strong desire to provide high levels of student satisfaction, quality training and assessment materials, technology enabled learning, and skill-based job-ready learning outcomes.

This 'student focus' is a direct result of Mark's doctoral studies in e-commerce, financial services & health corporate advisory experience with AT Kearney and KPMG, and his passion for learning and teaching developed teaching in the MBA program at RMIT University.

Mentor Education is the product of elegant application of technology and innovation to professional education. Over the past 15 years, Mark has developed an efficient model to select, digitally market, deliver and support high-demand courses which deliver great value to students and the business.

During his career, Mark has advised senior executives at over 100 businesses in a broad range of industries throughout Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East including strategic assignment with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Department of Human Services, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Department of Education, Telstra and the Reserve Bank of Indonesia.

Matthew Dale

CEO, Audit Express

Matthew Dale is the Chief Operations Officer of Audit Express, Matthew is passionate about Australian training and education, specialising in organisational development, knowledge management, quality, compliance and internal audit. He has been a vocal and energetic campaigner for policy change and the reduction of regulation and red tape in the VET sector. Matthew was previously a senior policy advisor to the Victorian Minister for Skills and Training, and also publishes regularly on the topic of regulation and industry best practice. Matthew is a graduate of Monash University with his studies focussed on Adult Learning and Development, he has previously worked as an RTO Manager, and Compliance Manager for both an industry focussed not-for-profit organisation and a large national RTO which operated in all states and territories.

Melanie Alexandra

Consultant

Melanie has held a variety of roles within the Academic and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors over the past 25 years including trainer and assessor, Head of Faculty, Program Manager, RTO Manager, and Head of Quality Assurance and has won awards for practice excellence in teaching and learning, and outstanding leadership.

In recent years, Melanie worked as a Senior Lead Auditor, conducting regulatory audits and registrations against the current VET Quality Framework and Standards for RTOs 2015, and has authored and built a number of online professional development programs to support VET practitioners nationally.

Today Melanie works as an Education Services Advisor of Vocational Education, Skills and Training for Queensland schools and provides consulting support services to RTOs as a VET Consultant in her own right.

Melanie MacDonald

Founder, Mana Social

After 17 years of running her own RTO’s, Melanie MacDonald has a plethora of expertise to share with other education providers – the good, the bad, and the unexpected!

Melanie and her team have thrived with annual intakes of 2,000 completely fee for service students, making it to the BRW Fast 100 fastest growing companies in Australia.  Even during the VET fee help era, they still maintained 900 students/year – all without government funding and without competing on price.

Along the way while running her business and compliance focussed RTO (scope included QA, WHS, HR and similar qualifications) Melanie also bought a beauty therapy college, rebranded it, and grew it by 800% to be the biggest beauty college in Queensland (again fully fee for service) before selling it to a publicly listed company.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though and there have been some tough times but Melanie and her team met the challenges head on and learnt from them all.

In 2018 after exiting the RTO business she realised that what she had been doing to grow her own RTO quickly, could be replicated to help other RTOs.

That’s when Mana Social was born – a business that focuses on growth strategies specifically helping RTO’s.

Michael Hartman

CEO, Skills Impact

Michael has more than 30 years involvement in work-based learning and vocational education and training. As CEO of ForestWorks for 10 years he led the industry’s skills standards and qualifications program including an industry wide Innovation Skills Program to support development of the forestry and timber building products industries. As CEO of Skills Impact (from start-up in 2016) he is now responsible for services which support skill standards and qualification development for a broad range of industry sectors. Michael has broad and deep knowledge of industry, productivity, workplace learning, education and training to engage and add value with industry and VET sector stakeholders. He holds a Diploma of Management (Community Services), Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment, Corporate Governance qualifications, Innovation for Leaders Skill Set and trade qualifications.

Michelle Charlton

Vocational Education & Training Consultant, Specialised VET Services

One of Michelle’s greatest interests is ‘why’ and she looks to ignite and share this curiosity for learning at every opportunity.  

Michelle is an experienced presenter and facilitator, a qualified trainer and assessor, and has industry qualifications and experience in project management, leadership and management, training and education, and business operations. She holds tertiary qualifications in Psychology, Adult and Vocational Education, and Training and Development.  

Michelle currently works with her team to offer specialised RTO and VET services, through resource development, validation services, and VET professional development opportunities.  

Michelle Ockers

Organisational Learning Strategist, michelleockers.com

Michelle Ockers works with business and learning and development leaders to realise the untapped potential of learning in organisations.  Michelle helps organisations to create high impact organisational learning strategies and assesses and builds the capability of L&D teams.

Michelle was recognised as the 2019 Australian Institute of Training and Development’s L&D Professional of the Year and received the Internet Time Alliance Jay Cross Memorial Award 2019 for outstanding contribution to the field of informal learning.  Michelle can be contacted at michelle@michelleockers.com

Natalie Daniel

Quality Consultant and Auditor, Audit Express

Natalie has been engaged in the VET Sector for over 15 years and has worked in Senior Management for more than 5 years.  Having been a Director of VET Operations for a dual sector RTO operating at a State and National level, Natalie brings an extensive range of skills, knowledge and experience to Audit Express. Within this, having also commenced her career as a Trainer and Assessor, she has a deep knowledge and understanding of the VET and RTO environments.  Underpinning this, is the focus on quality and compliance requirements to support operations, teaching and learning and the student experience.

Natalie commenced working in the TAFE environment before moving across to working with Private Providers, drawing on her background in Business and Allied Health to predominantly work within these sectors.

Nick McEwan-Hall

Director, AVETMESS

Nick has been a longstanding and robust contributor to the Australian Vocational Education & Training (VET) sector for over 17 years. A qualified VET practitioner, DISC facilitator, trainer, workplace and business coach, his knowledge of the training and education system is highly acclaimed Australia wide.

Starting his career in Secondary Schools and transitioning to VET, his breadth of experience spans training & assessment, operations, strategic management, client relationship management, quality, data management and instructional design. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the Victorian Training Guarantee and has led small to multi-national RTOs and NPOs through external audits.

Nick has a unique ability to break down the ever changing complexities within the VET sector in a practical way which enables organisations to ‘simply get on with their core activities’ with confidence and efficiency.

A committed advocate for equality and vocational opportunities, Nick has worked with many RTOs in the Non For Profit sector including the Brotherhood of St Laurence. His focus and determination for helping others achieve and flourish has resulted in many NFPs not only remaining operable, but commercially sustainable in their provision of training for the unemployed and marginalised.

Volunteering for many years on the Board of Governance at the Fitzroy Learning Network, Nick was a key driver of new program initiatives and fundraising activities to alleviate major learning gaps and lack of opportunities to disadvantaged residents.

In 2012 Nick was a recipient of the ‘Whitelion Chairperson's Award for Employment’. He led his team across a joint partnership with Telstra to deliver programs to unemployed youth which resulted in an unprecedented number of permanent job offers within Telstra call centres.

Nick currently manages an independent RTO, ‘The Open Door Coaching Group’, along with steering his own consulting and coaching practices, ‘Latitude Coaching’ and ‘AVETMESS’. An active presenter at conferences around Australia, he runs training workshops & coaching sessions to a broad range of education and business groups. He speaks on a variety of subjects including change management, workplace values, team building and a wide scope of VET related topics.

When not working, you will find Nick indulging his fascination with Asian art and artefacts, exploring art exhibitions, enjoying an espresso coffee with friends over a joke or two and getting out of the city to wind down and relax.

A fun and straightforward presenter Nick has a knack for striking the elusive balance between theory, practicality, humour and meaningful activity. Participants of Nick’s sessions will leave feeling relaxed and empowered to make a real difference.

Paul Walsh

Chief Executive Officer, Australian Industry Standards

As Chief Executive of Australian Industry Standards (AIS), Paul’s focus is on delivering innovative world-class skills solutions to support careers, life-long learning and building business capability. He has been a member of the AIS executive and leadership team since 2012, previously leading its operations and overseeing the newly established AIS Global business unit. Previous to this, Paul amassed over 30 years’ experience in the transport and logistics sector both as an employee and as a company owner. 

Paul is a passionate advocate for skills development and was instrumental in seeing AIS expand its portfolio in 2016 to 11 industry sectors and establishing new working arrangements for Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) for the respective training package development.

Paul has extensive experience in International Skills Capability Building Projects involving the establishment of skills recognition frameworks and enabling infrastructure needs across APEC, IORA and Pacific Alliance regions. These frameworks have been developed with a strong focus on developing current and future skills through industry engagement.

Paul holds a Certificate IV in Assessment & Workplace Training and a range of qualifications in Business, Operational Management, Project Management (PRINCE2), Media, Industrial Relations, and Workplace Health & Safety. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Peter Nolan & Professor Eddie Blass

CEO, PEER & Founder and CEO, Inventorium

Peter Nolan

Peter joined PEER in June 2106 as the CEO, having had over 20 years’ of involvement with the training and employment of apprentices. With extensive experience in construction and mining, he has also led organisations in the hospitality and property sectors. Peter has a strong commitment to the health, safety and pastoral care of apprentices and trainees and creating an innovative, high performance culture.

PEER is a non-profit industry-based organisation, a Group Training Organisation (GTO) and an award winning Registered Training Organisation (RTO), delivering nationally accredited training to meet South Australia’s skill development needs. The PEER Academy ensures students are trained, coached, mentored and supported to be their best – as trade professionals and as individuals. PEER supports the whole-of-person development for our learners, which provides them with opportunities and pathways to become a skilled professional within the Building and Construction industry. PEER – the 2018 South Australian Training Provider of the Year and the 2018 Australian Small Training Provider of the Year – has invested in a significant upgrade of its training facilities to ensure it continues to deliver the leading trade training experience and outcomes for South Australians.

Professor Eddie Blass

Professor Eddie Blass is the Founder and CEO of the Inventorium, an online platform that transforms the experience of learning for anyone aged 15 and over.  It was designed to bridge the gap between kids disengaging from school and their future economic sustainability, and can be used with high school kids and RTOs for foundation skills and school VET.

Shaz Gerchow

Research and Data Officer, Jobs Queensland

Shaz has over 20 years experience in working on issues related to employment, skills and training in both the Queensland and Australian governments. She has worked across Queensland and appreciates regional differences. Shaz is currently the Research and Data Officer of Jobs Queensland – an independent entity established to provide advice to government on skills demand, future workforce planning and development, and apprenticeships and traineeships.

Simon Cochaud

Quality Consultant and Auditor, Audit Express

Simon has been engaged in the VET sector for more than 10 years, having worked as Manager and Director for large TAFE Institutes, Manager of an Industry Skills Council and as a Lead Regulatory Officer with the VET Regulator – ASQA. Simon’s practice areas include quality, compliance and risk, learning and teaching, people and culture and transformational change. Simon has designed and facilitated many professional development programs. Prior to working in the VET sector Simon worked for a number of global advertising agency networks as print production director in Asia Pacific.

Simon Walker

Managing Director, NCVER

Simon began his career in the public sector as a financial analyst for Central TAFE in Western Australia after starting his career in the private sector. Simon

joined the WA Department of Training in 1997 and has since worked in a variety of senior executive roles with a focus on VET sector planning, policy

and resourcing.

Simon represented Western Australia on the national Senior Skills Officials Network (SSON) and the national Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration (MACSM) and was a representative on the Western Australian State Training Board. Simon was also the state and territory government representative on the inaugural Australian Industry Skills Committee (AISC).

Simon joined the NCVER board as a director in 2015 and took up the position of Managing Director of the NCVER in October 2018.

TBC

Coming Soon!

Tamara Simon

Speaker, Author and Coach for RTOs

Tamara Simon is Australia’s Only Dedicated RTO Business Coach providing simple solutions to help timepoor RTOs CEOs/Managers grow the business (whilst managing everything else) because she’s all about the HOW.

Tamara’s popular NVC sessions are known for practical ideas you can immediately implement and some tough love when needed.  Her energy and understanding of the challenges facing anyone running an RTO as they juggle managing their time, staff, systems and compliance AND growing the business is evident in her stories and ability to problem solve on the go.

With 24 years VET and business management experience including FITAB’s CEO, Tamara’s mantra is “if you don’t like compliance and don’t like change, then don’t work for an RTO or be one”.

Tamara has provided numerous firsts for the VET sector including

• Her acclaimed RTO business book:  The Five Little RTO Pigs
• RTO Grow - Australia’s only PD Program providing information and tools to manage and grow the business
• The Only Business Coaching Membership Program for those running (and aspiring to run) an RTO business

Tamara’s leadership was recognised as a Queensland Finalist in the Telstra Young Business Women’s Awards and IML’s Excellence Awards; and receiving QITC’s ‘Leadership in VET’ Award.

Tony Kirton

Senior Instructional Designer and Facilitator, Engage Learning and Development

Tony Kirton is an instructional designer and workshop facilitator with more than ten years’ experience in learning and development.

Founder and senior designer at resource design consultancy Engage Learning and Development (formerly DES Learning), which contracts to the public and private sector, Tony develops traditional learning programs as well as e-learning using Articulate Storyline.

Tony has extensive experience in the application of learning design theory, having designed many training programs and hundreds of assessment resources.

Tony’s recent instructional projects include major programs for:

• Boral Australia
• ACE Training Centre
• SafeWork NSW
• Australasia International School
• NSW Health

Known for his engaging and evidence-based approach to workplace learning, Tony also facilitates training and assessment with some of Australia’s leading training providers including the Australian Institute of Management, NSW Health and SafeWork NSW.

Continuing to extend his expertise and keep up-to-date with the latest practices in learning and development, Tony recently completed a four-month leadership program with the University of Michigan. He is currently completing an Instructional Design and Technology MicroMasters program with the University of Maryland (USA).

In addition to his current studies, some of Tony’s qualifications include:

• Master of Business and Commerce with a specialisation in Human Resources (Distinction)
• Diploma of Vocational Education and Training
• Diploma of Training Design and Development
• Cert IV in Training and Assessment
• Certificate IV in Frontline Management