2019 QLD Schools VET Conference

Brett Hall 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.

Fiona Bogaart has over 10 years’ experience in the VET sector. Since 2010, Fiona has been a Qld Schools consultant supporting schools through VET services including internal audits, reviews, quality products and professional development, and is also on retainer for many schools on the Sunshine Coast. In 2014, Fiona became a Qld Schools consultant for Velg Training. From 2007-2012 Fiona was an RTO manager in Qld Schools and from 2011-2014 she was a member of the Senior Phase Network as part of Sustainable Partnerships Australia, an organisation that provides Professional Development opportunities to VET teachers. Fiona has qualifications in TAE50111, TAE50211, TAE40110 and BSB51607.

Fiona Lambert is a qualified auditor with QCAA with over 15 years' experience in the VET sector.

Commencing her career as a trainer and assessor in travel and event management through to operational and educational management roles in the VET sector, Fiona believes the audit process is the best professional development available. 

As a lifelong learner, Fiona maintains commitment and passion to support school RTOs in compliance practice to create quality assessment experiences for students contributing to educational and employment pathways. 

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.

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.

With a teaching background and as the founder and director of Mindworks Australasia since 1987, Laurie has worked tirelessly to encourage educators about the power they have to fire up learner’s excitement in the Learning process. He has now been engaged by Brain Friendly Training Pty Ltd to deliver this training on-line, whilst still delivering face to face and conference work.

Prior to teaching he worked with street and unemployed youth in the Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane. That was where his passion for education began.

From 1980 to 1983 as an education consultant he oversaw the setting up of dozens of ‘School to Work’ Transition Programs in high schools throughout Queensland for ‘at risk’ kids.

His work also involved the pioneering of Career Education Programs and School/TAFE linked courses, which were the pre-runner to the current VET pathways in our schools. After four years in this consultancy role he returned to the classroom and set up his own program for school-weary students with tremendous success. This culmination of experiences set him on a journey to understand how people learn and how teaching must engage the learner.

After several years in schools, he moved into presenting in the corporate world where he has concentrated on sharing ideas and methods to make learning ‘stick’. He has been very prominent and in high demand in the VET sector and presents all over Australia and internationally, in private RTOs, TAFEs, government departments and all areas of training. These include working with educators at Velg Training conferences, Energex, Emergency Services, The Defence Force, Allied Health professionals, nursing groups, consulting doctors at major hospitals, engineering and accounting firms, Salvation Army and many, many others.

All teachers can embed his simple and effective ideas, many based on his intimate understanding of NLP, to make learning more effective. His presentations are engaging, collaborative, hilarious and achievable. Educators do not have to change what they are doing, but simply embed or add his ideas to their daily repertoire.

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 has delivered over 300 training and assessment courses since 2000 and 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.

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.

As the Principal of her organisation, Michelle works with her team to provide specialised VET and RTO support services including:

• Writing and resource development
• Assessment and document review
• Assessment validation
• QA services
• Professional Development information and activities

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.

Peter McKay joined the Public Service Commission in April 2013 as Deputy Commissioner from his previous role as Deputy Director-General, Corporate in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. 

 Presently, Peter is Acting Deputy Director-General, Strategy Division in the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training.

 As a senior public servant; Peter has led corporate services, policy development and service delivery in a number of Queensland Government departments.

Rachel Leigh Taylor has more than 20 years’ experience teaching, designing, managing and quality auditing in the VET sector in Australia and abroad. Rachel has a passion for using student data to inform educational reform, and assess the quality of VET service provision.  As an avid VET practitioner who regularly provides professional development webinars and training workshops across state/territory and national platforms, she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table in discussing VET issues and directions for the professionalisation and promotion of VET as the underpinning educational sector for career and vocational outcomes both nationally and internationally.

Saxon Phipps - Founder and director of the Year 13, Australia's largest digital platform for high school leavers. Saxon is a passionate leader with determination and work ethic, he is unwaveringly committed to empowering the audience of Year 13. Saxon is a creative thinker and has a natural ability to assess what the Year13 audience desires through the use of data and insights. Saxon and the team at Year 13 have been able to apply this process to develop several youth engagement strategies for the likes of the Department of Employment, Westpac, and The Department of Education & Training. He regularly speaks at events about youth employment issues, using the data from the 2017 & 2018 reports known as 'After the ATAR andAfter the ATAR II : Understanding how Gen Z transition into further education and employment

Wendy Walker’s team are responsible for administering the Australian Training Awards,  the Australian VET Alumni (including UNESCO recognised Australian Apprenticeships Ambassadors) and the VET Information Strategy - real skills for real careers. These programs contribute to promoting VET as a first-choice career pathway.

Wendy will be joined by Queensland members of the Australian VET Alumni. Australian VET Alumni are a national community of VET graduates, VET practitioners, registered training organisations (RTOs), secondary schools, and businesses dedicated to sharing their VET journey with Australians to encourage greater participation and best practice in VET. For more information, visit www.myskills.gov.au/vetalumni.