Dr. Lesley Andrew

Dr. Andrew is the Course Coordinator for Postgraduate Public Health at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Before this she was Course Coordinator for the University’s undergraduate nursing degree. Her PhD focussed on gender equity for women nurse students. Dr Andrew also holds a Master of Health Professional Education, is a graduate biologist, registered nurse and registered health visitor (community public health nurse specialist- UK). Dr Andrew’s awards include the Athena Swan Leadership Advancement Scheme and the ECU Vice Chancellor Award for Teaching Excellence. Her research and associated publications focus strongly on the promotion of equity for disadvantaged students, including international, first-in-family and incarcerated students. Dr Andrew is an LGBT+ ALLY and a member of ECU’s Equity Committee and the roll out of the university’s Staff and Student Mental Health Strategy.

Ms Kylie Austin

Kylie Austin has over fourteen years’ experience in Australian higher education. During this time, Kylie has led institution wide initiatives aimed to increase the representation and participation of underrepresented cohorts at university. She is also the current President for Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia, providing sector-wide advocacy and professional development to student and staff equity practitioners. Kylie is currently completing her PhD, with research interests in partnerships and equity, and has led national research projects to investigate the experiences of underrepresented cohorts with higher education.

Associate Professor Amani Bell

Amani Bell is the Innovative Research Universities Vice-Chancellors’ Fellow and an honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her research takes a participatory approach to exploring the challenges and opportunities of higher education. Her research focusses on students and staff working in partnership to enhance higher education, particularly to improve access and success for students from diverse backgrounds. In the past, my research has explored ways in which academics develop their educational practice, through methods such as peer observation, critical reflection and mentoring.

Professor Dawn Bennett

Dawn is Assistant Provost and Director of the Transformation CoLab with Bond University, Australia. She is an experienced senior leader, an educational reformist and a passionate educator. Dawn’s expertise is the enhancement of student success and graduate employability. Dawn is a staunch advocate for student equity and addressing the impacts of disadvantage. She is an internationally known researcher with almost 300 academic articles and major reports and AUD$6m in research funding. Her open access EmployABILITY Initiative engages 60 institutions globally and holds the largest dataset of student-derived confidence data in the world.

Dr. Jane Coffey

Jane Coffey is a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Business and Law at Curtin University and specialises in research in the areas of the intersection of careers, graduate employability and the future of work. She also develops and delivers innovative and leading curriculum in the areas of career design, career sustainability, future of work, employability, human resource management and employee relations.

Dr. Mollie Dollinger

Dr. Mollie Dollinger is the Equity-First, Students as Partners Lecturer at Deakin. Her research areas include participatory design, co-creation, and using technology to improve access and equity in learning.

Mr David Eckstein

David is Career Consultant (Access & Equity) at Swinburne University, 2020 Equity Fellow at the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) and Treasurer for the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS). His NCSEHE Fellowship investigated careers support for students with disability in Australian Universities and he leads a community of practice for Disability Career Development Learning. His interests involve progressing systemic inclusion, employability in the curriculum, industry partnerships that generate equity confidence, and the use of narrative methods to help people develop independent career management capacity.

Dr. Olivia Groves

Olivia Groves is a post-doctoral researcher at the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. Olivia’s research interests lie in understanding the conditions under which learning takes place in order to maximise the potential for learning and success of all students. Her current research activity examines how student equity can be achieved in the higher education sector and beyond – including research into best-practice career education, particularly for those with disability; supporting student success in higher education in the time of COVID; and understanding and ameliorating inequities in graduate outcomes.

Professor Andrew Harvey

Professor Andrew Harvey is Executive Director of Student Equity and Director of the Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research (CHEEDR) at La Trobe University. Andrew has published widely in areas of higher education policy, including issues of access, retention, regionality, comparative international admissions frameworks, employability, and the experience of foster care students. In 2016 he led a national report on student equity and employability in higher education funded by the Department of Education and Training. Andrew co-edited a scholarly book on student equity, Student Equity in Australian Higher Education: Twenty-five years of A Fair Chance for All (Springer, 2016).

Professor Braden Hill

Professor Hill is a Nyungar (Wardandi) man from the south-west of Western Australia and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Equity and Indigenous) and Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research.

He has significant experience in Aboriginal education, as well as leading a range of equity initiatives including Sage Athena SWAN, Respect Now Always, Reconciliation Action Plan and Disabilities and Access Inclusion Plan within the tertiary sector. His current portfolio responsibilities include leading ECU’s commitment to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advancement, Equity and Diversity initiatives and working across the University to provide an environment that welcomes, and facilitates the success of, students and staff from a range of diverse backgrounds.

Professor Hill’s research interests include Indigenous education, identity politics, queer identities in education and transformative learning. He is also chief investigator on a project exploring the lived experiences of Indigenous LGBTQI people to better inform community health organisations in their working with queer-identifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Professor Sarah O’Shea

Professor O’Shea is a nationally and internationally recognised educator and researcher who has worked across the Higher, Vocational and Adult education sectors for nearly 30 years. She has held numerous university leadership positions, which have directly informed changes across the Australian higher education sector, particularly in the field of student access and participation. Sarah loves to write and has over 80 publications including books, book chapters, scholarly journal articles and media articles

Ms Daniella Prezioso

Daniella Prezioso is a second year student studying a Bachelor of Nutrition Science at Deakin University’s Burwood campus. Through her own personal experiences as a student with chronic illness, Daniella endeavours to advocate for equitable opportunities for a diverse range of students within the tertiary education system.