2021 VET CEO Conference

Mr Adam Boyton was appointed the National Skills Commissioner in October 2020.  

Mr Boyton has almost 25 years as an economist across government and the private sector. He was previously the Chief Economist at the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chief Economist for Deutsche Bank. He was a member of the NSW Skills Board from 2013, and was closely involved in the development of pricing, funding and costing models and in the continuous review and assessment of VET in NSW.

Ed Mallett is the Managing Director of Employsure, a specialist workplace relations consultancy based in Australia and New Zealand.

Mallett is a former employment relations barrister who moved to Australia from the UK in 2010. Frustrated by an antiquated legal model that charged high legal fees to confused and emotional clients, he arrived in Australia intent on starting something new.

He founded Employsure in 2011, which has since become the largest provider of employment relations and workplace health and safety services in Australia. Employsure services more than 24,000 clients nationally, offering 24/7 workplace relations advice, along with employee documentation, on-site compliance and WHS checks and legal representation.

Emma is an experienced regulator having spent nearly a decade with ASQA, beginning as an auditor and then working across the agency in a variety of roles with a focus on best practice regulation, sector-specific strategic reviews and internal policy development. Emma has extensive industry experience in the sector having worked as a trainer and assessor in RTOs delivering business, project management and education related qualifications.

Emma has held a career long interest in developing a collaborative approach to education and engagement for effective regulation. She currently leads ASQA’s new Education and Guidance Team, established to develop and deliver fit-for-purpose education and guidance for providers as part of ASQA’s commitment to working together for better regulation. She is currently completing an MBA and holds a Bachelor of Education.

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. He has enjoyed the many challenges faced due to the never-ending changes, but has never lost sight of the industry's main focus, educating our students.

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.

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.